Question 1

Why is cancelarían in the conditional tense here?

Accepted Answer

We use the conditional tense here to express the 'future in the past.' Because the promise was made in the past (prometieron), the action they promised not to do must be in the conditional (cancelarían, meaning 'would not cancel') rather than the future tense (cancelarán, 'will not cancel').

Question 2

Can municipio mean the actual physical building, like 'city hall'?

Accepted Answer

Yes. While municipio strictly means 'municipality' (the local government or administrative district), in many parts of Latin America people use it in everyday speech to refer to the local government building itself, just like la alcaldía or el ayuntamiento.

Question 3

Why is prometieron in the preterite instead of the imperfect (prometían)?

Accepted Answer

The preterite prometieron is used because the act of promising is viewed as a single, completed event that caused the speaker to go to the municipality. If you used the imperfect prometían, it would imply they were in the habit of promising it over and over, or were in the middle of promising it.

Question 4

Why doesn't prometer que trigger the subjunctive mood for the second verb?

Accepted Answer

Verbs of communication or declaration like prometer (to promise) typically take the indicative mood because they declare what is considered a fact or a definite outcome by the subject. You do not use the subjunctive here because it is not expressing doubt, subjective emotion, or a direct command.

Fui al municipio porque prometieron que no cancelarían el contrato.

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