Learn Spanish (Latin America): Pensamos que el drenaje urbano costaría menos. - We thought that the urban drainage would cost less.

Pensamos que el drenaje urbano costaría menos.

We thought that the urban drainage would cost less.

Breakdown of Pensamos que el drenaje urbano costaría menos.

to (telling time) / minus / less

Questions & Answers about Pensamos que el drenaje urbano costaría menos.

Why is pensamos translated as "we thought" when it is the present tense form?

For nosotros (we), the present and preterite (simple past) forms of pensar are exactly the same. We know it means "we thought" here from the context. The use of the conditional costaría (would cost) sets up a "future from the past" scenario.

Why does this sentence use the conditional costaría instead of a past tense?

The conditional is used here to express the "future in the past." At a point in the past (pensamos), someone made a prediction about an event that was in the future from that perspective (that it would cost less).

Doesn't pensar que trigger the subjunctive? Why isn't the second verb in the subjunctive?

Affirmative statements with verbs of belief like pensar que or creer que declare what the speaker considers to be a reality, so they do not take the subjunctive. They only trigger the subjunctive when they are negative (like no pensamos que...), which introduces doubt.

The present tense of costar is cuesta. Why is there no "ue" stem change in costaría?