Learn Spanish (Spain): El invitado vino anoche y quiso compartir el pastel. - The guest came last night and wanted to share the cake.

El invitado vino anoche y quiso compartir el pastel.

The guest came last night and wanted to share the cake.

Breakdown of El invitado vino anoche y quiso compartir el pastel.

and

querer

to want; to love (a person)

Questions & Answers about El invitado vino anoche y quiso compartir el pastel.

Why is it vino instead of a regular past tense form like "venió"?

Vino is the pretérito indefinido (past tense) form of venir (to come) for he, she, or it. Venir is highly irregular in this tense. Its stem changes to vin-, and it takes special irregular endings. The ending for he/she/it is -o, making it vino.

What verb does quiso come from?

Quiso is the past tense of querer (to want). Just like venir, querer has an irregular past stem with an "i" in it: quis-. When you add the irregular he/she/it ending -o, you get quiso (he wanted).

Why doesn't compartir change to match the past tense?

When two verbs are used together to express a single idea, only the first verb is conjugated. Because quiso (wanted) is already conjugated, the second verb compartir (to share) stays in the infinitive (the basic dictionary form).

Why does the sentence use anoche instead of "la noche pasada"?

While "la noche pasada" is understood, anoche is the standard, single word Spanish speakers use for "last night." Because it refers to a specific, completed event, it acts as a strong trigger word for the pretérito indefinido (simple past tense).