Question 1

Why is recordaba in the imperfect here instead of the preterite?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of reported speech. The reporting verb, juró (he swore), is in the past. His original direct words would have been in the present tense: "No recuerdo" (I don't remember). When we report present tense speech after a past tense reporting verb, the present tense backshifts to the imperfect, becoming recordaba.

Question 2

What if his original words were already in the past, like "I didn't remember"? How would that backshift?

Accepted Answer

If his original words were "No recordé" (preterite) or "No recordaba" (imperfect), you would backshift to the past perfect (pluperfect) to show that the action of not remembering happened before the action of swearing. The sentence would then become: Él juró que no había recordado el apodo.

Question 3

Could I say que no se acordaba del apodo instead of que no recordaba el apodo?

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely! Recordar and acordarse both mean to remember and are interchangeable here. Just keep in mind that acordarse requires the preposition de, while recordar takes a direct object without a preposition. So, no se acordaba del apodo would be perfectly natural.

Question 4

Where does the word canoso come from?

Accepted Answer

It comes from the noun cana, which means a gray or white hair. Adding the suffix -oso turns it into an adjective meaning full of or characterized by, so canoso translates to gray-haired.

Él juró que no recordaba el apodo del chico canoso.

Breakdown of Él juró que no recordaba el apodo del chico canoso.

Questions & Answers about Él juró que no recordaba el apodo del chico canoso.

Learn Él juró que no recordaba el apodo del chico canoso and more in Spanish