Breakdown of La desesperanza llegó cuando dejaron de buscarlo.
de
from / of
llegar
to arrive
buscar
to look for
lo
it / him (direct object)
dejar
to stop / to leave (something behind)
cuando
when (statement)
la desesperanza
despair
Questions & Answers about La desesperanza llegó cuando dejaron de buscarlo.
Why are llegó and dejaron in the preterite here, when this lesson is about using the imperfect?
This lesson focuses on ongoing past situations, but here, both verbs describe specific, completed events that advance the story. Despair arrived (a specific event) when they stopped looking (a completed action). When an action has a clear beginning or end in the narrative, you use the preterite instead of the imperfect.
Does dejaron de always mean "stopped"?
Yes, the structure dejar de followed by an infinitive (like buscar) means "to stop doing something" or "to quit". You will use this phrasing much more often than verbs like parar when talking about ending an ongoing action.
Why is there a La before desesperanza if the English translation is just "Despair"?
In Spanish, abstract nouns (concepts, emotions, ideas) generally require a definite article (el or la) when they are the subject of the sentence. English drops the article for general concepts, but Spanish keeps it, which is why it is La desesperanza.
Why isn't there a word for "for" in buscarlo (looking for him)?
The verb buscar already means "to look for" or "to search for". A very common mistake for English speakers is to add por or para, but the "for" is built right into the verb. You just attach the direct object pronoun lo (him) directly to the end of the infinitive.
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