Question 1

Since decidimos is the exact same word in both the present and past tense, how do we know it means 'decided' here?

Accepted Answer

Context! The phrase al final (in the end) sets this up as the conclusion to a thought process in the past. It tells us we are looking at a completed past action, so decidimos is the preterite here.

Question 2

Why didn't we use the past perfect here, like habíamos decidido?

Accepted Answer

The past perfect is used for an action that happened before another past action (like 'we had decided'). Here, deciding to stay home is the final event in a sequence, not an earlier event that sets the background, so the simple preterite (decidimos) is the correct choice.

Question 3

Why is it quedarnos instead of just quedar?

Accepted Answer

The verb quedarse means 'to stay' in a physical place. If you used the non-reflexive quedar, it would mean something else, like 'to be located' or 'to arrange to meet'. Because we are the ones staying, we attach the pronoun nos to the end of the infinitive.

Question 4

Why is it en casa and not en la casa?

Accepted Answer

Just like in English, you can skip the article when talking about your own home. En casa means 'at home', whereas en la casa would sound more like 'in the house' (referring to the physical building).

Question 5

Could I say por fin instead of al final?

Accepted Answer

They have slightly different meanings. Al final means 'in the end' or 'ultimately', simply describing the final outcome. Por fin means 'finally' or 'at last', which usually expresses relief that something happened after a long wait.

Al final decidimos quedarnos en casa.

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