Breakdown of Una cuarentena de manifestantes iba a caminar hasta allí.
de
from / of
una
a, an (feminine)
caminar
to walk
ir
to go
a
to
hasta
until / as far as
allí
there (farther away)
el manifestante
protester
la cuarentena
about forty
Questions & Answers about Una cuarentena de manifestantes iba a caminar hasta allí.
Doesn't cuarentena usually mean "quarantine"?
Why is the verb singular (iba) when there are multiple protesters (manifestantes)?
The grammatical subject of the sentence is the singular noun phrase una cuarentena, so the verb takes the singular form iba. While you will sometimes hear native speakers use the plural iban to match the plural manifestantes (known as agreement by sense), using the singular iba is grammatically correct and very common.
Why use hasta allí instead of just saying they were going to walk hacia allí?
Hasta translates to "until" or "as far as." Using hasta allí emphasizes the specific destination they intended to reach ("all the way over there"). By contrast, hacia allí would just mean "toward there," focusing on the direction they were walking rather than the final destination.
Why use the imperfect tense (iba a caminar) instead of the preterite (fue a caminar)?
The phrase iba a + infinitive is the past equivalent of voy a + infinitive. It expresses a plan or intention in the past ("were going to walk"). The imperfect tense is required here because it describes a background state or intention without telling us whether they actually finished the walk.
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