Breakdown of La ceremonia religiosa es mañana, a pesar de que tuvimos una boda civil hoy.
ser
to be
tener
to have
una
a, an (feminine)
hoy
today
mañana
tomorrow
la boda
the wedding
a pesar de que
even though / despite the fact that (stronger concession)
la ceremonia
ceremony
religioso
religious
civil
civil
Questions & Answers about La ceremonia religiosa es mañana, a pesar de que tuvimos una boda civil hoy.
Why is tuvimos in the indicative instead of the subjunctive here?
We use the indicative (tuvimos) after a pesar de que because having the civil wedding today is an established, known fact. If the speaker were talking about a hypothetical obstacle like "even if we were to have a civil wedding today", they would use the subjunctive (tuviéramos).
The sentence uses hoy (today). Shouldn't we use the present perfect (hemos tenido) instead of the preterite (tuvimos)?
In Latin America, it is extremely common to use the preterite (tuvimos) for completed actions that happened earlier today, treating the event as entirely finished. In Spain, you would more likely hear the present perfect (hemos tenido) since the time period of hoy hasn't ended yet.
Why does it say es mañana rather than using estar?
Can I just say a pesar que instead of a pesar de que?
No, you need the de. The fixed phrase is a pesar de que (or just a pesar de if followed directly by an infinitive or noun). Dropping the de before que is a common grammatical error, but in standard Spanish, it is required here.
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