Questions & Answers about El carro rozó la pared.
What exactly does rozó mean here? Does it imply a bad crash?
No, rozar means to graze, brush against, or scrape lightly. It implies the car just barely touched or scraped the wall as it passed, rather than having a full collision (which would be chocar).
Since rozar ends in -zar, shouldn't there be a spelling change to -c- in the preterite tense?
Could I use muro instead of pared for "wall" in this sentence?
It depends on the type of wall! A pared is usually a standard architectural wall, like the side of a building or an interior wall. A muro is typically a thicker, freestanding outdoor wall, like a stone barrier or a defensive wall. If the car grazed the side of a house or parking garage, pared is perfect.
How would I apply this lesson's topic to say "I wish the car hadn't grazed the wall"?
To express an unfulfillable wish about the past (something that already happened and can't be changed), you use ojalá followed by the past perfect subjunctive. You would say: Ojalá el carro no hubiera rozado la pared.
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