Word
Mientras tanto, nadie decía nada.
Meaning
Meanwhile, nobody was saying anything.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Mientras tanto, nadie decía nada.
nada
nothing
nadie
no one
decir
to say, to tell
mientras tanto
meanwhile
Questions & Answers about Mientras tanto, nadie decía nada.
This lesson is about using mientras with the subjunctive. Why isn't there a subjunctive verb here?
The subjunctive rule applies when mientras means "as long as" for a future, unresolved condition (like mientras estés aquí, "as long as you are here"). In this sentence, mientras tanto is an adverbial phrase meaning "meanwhile," and it describes a factual state that already happened in the past, so it takes the indicative.
What is the difference between mientras and mientras tanto?
Mientras is a conjunction that means "while" or "as long as" and connects two clauses directly (e.g., "I read while you sleep"). Mientras tanto is a fixed phrase meaning "meanwhile" or "in the meantime." It usually stands alone with a comma to set the scene or transition between two separate sentences.
Why is it nadie decía nada (nobody was saying nothing) instead of using a word like algo (anything)?
Why use the imperfect decía instead of the preterite dijo?