Question 1

Can I flip the sentence around and say El teleférico está cerrado como heló anoche?

Accepted Answer

No, and this is a strict rule in Spanish! When como is used to mean "since" or "because" to introduce a cause, it must always go at the very beginning of the sentence. If you want to put the cause in the second half of the sentence, you must use a different word, like porque (El teleférico está cerrado porque heló anoche).

Question 2

Is heló related to the word hielo (ice)?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Heló is the third-person singular preterite (simple past) of the verb helar (to freeze). Like other weather verbs such as llover (to rain) or nevar (to snow), it is used in the "it" form. Also, helar is a stem-changing verb in the present tense (hiela), which is exactly where the noun hielo comes from.

Question 3

Why do we use está instead of es with cerrado?

Accepted Answer

We use estar with a past participle (like cerrado) to describe the current state or condition of something as a result of a previous action. The cable car was closed by the staff, and now it remains in that state. If you used es cerrado, it would sound like a passive action happening repeatedly, such as "it is closed by the staff at 5 PM every day."

Question 4

Could I say la noche pasada instead of anoche?

Accepted Answer

While la noche pasada makes literal sense, anoche is the standard, natural way to say "last night" in Spanish. You will rarely hear native speakers use la noche pasada unless they are specifically distinguishing it from another night.

Como heló anoche, el teleférico está cerrado.

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