Breakdown of Ella juró que extrañaba mucho lo de nuestra banda.
de
from / of
ella
she
mucho
many / a lot
nuestro
our
que
that / than
la banda
the band
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
extrañar
to miss
jurar
to swear
Questions & Answers about Ella juró que extrañaba mucho lo de nuestra banda.
Why is extrañaba in the imperfect tense here?
This sentence is an example of reported speech. Because the reporting verb juró is in the past tense, the verb in the reported clause shifts back in time. If she were speaking directly, she would say Extraño mucho (I really miss). When we report what she said in the past, that present tense extraño shifts to the imperfect extrañaba.
What is the grammatical function of lo de in this sentence?
The phrase lo de is a common way to say the thing about, the matter of, or the situation with. Here, lo de nuestra banda translates roughly to our band thing. You use the neuter article lo plus de when referring to an abstract idea or situation that both speakers already know about, rather than referring to a specific masculine or feminine noun.
I usually say echar de menos for to miss. Is extrañar used differently?
Could the main verb be in the imperfect, like Ella juraba que?
Yes, but it changes the meaning. Using the preterite juró means she swore it on a specific occasion as a completed past action. If you used the imperfect juraba, it would mean she used to swear it repeatedly over time, or she was swearing it while something else happened. The backshifting rule for extrañaba would still apply either way.
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