Question 1

Why do we use the imperfect alucinaba instead of the past perfect if the English translation is "had been hallucinating"?

Accepted Answer

This is the core of the hacía + time + que structure. To describe an action that started in the past and was still ongoing at a specific moment in a past narrative, Spanish uses the imperfect tense. Think of it as backshifting the present tense formula: hace + present (has been doing) becomes hacía + imperfect (had been doing).

Question 2

Could I put the time expression hacía un mes at the end of the sentence instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can flip the structure and say El náufrago alucinaba hacía un mes porque enloquecía. Notice that when the time phrase comes after the main verb, you drop the word que. You can also use desde hacía un mes in that position.

Question 3

Why is enloquecía in the imperfect rather than the preterite?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect is used because his process of going crazy was an ongoing, developing state in the background. It was happening at the same time as his hallucinations. If we used the preterite (enloqueció), it would mean he suddenly and completely went crazy at one specific, finished moment.

Question 4

Is there a pattern to verbs like enloquecer?

Accepted Answer

Yes, verbs that start with en- and end with -ecer often mean "to become" or "to turn into" the root adjective or noun. Here, it comes from loco (crazy). So enloquecer means "to go crazy." Another common example is enrojecer (to turn red or blush) from rojo.

Hacía un mes que el náufrago alucinaba porque enloquecía.

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