Breakdown of Ellas todavía no habían colocado la escultura en el pedestal.
ellas
they (f)
no
no / not
en
in / on / by (means of transport) / about (after pensar)
haber
to have (auxiliary)
todavía
still, yet
colocar
to place
la escultura
the sculpture
el pedestal
the pedestal
Questions & Answers about Ellas todavía no habían colocado la escultura en el pedestal.
Why is todavía no placed before habían colocado? Can I put it in the middle like in English?
In Spanish, you must never separate the auxiliary verb (habían) and the past participle (colocado). The phrase todavía no (not yet) generally goes right before the conjugated verb habían. You cannot say habían todavía no colocado. You could put it at the very end of the sentence, but placing it before the verb is the most natural way to emphasize 'not yet' with this tense.
How do we know this means 'had not yet placed' instead of 'have not yet placed'?
The verb habían is the imperfect tense of haber. When you combine the imperfect of haber with a past participle like colocado, it forms the past perfect (Pluscuamperfecto), translating to 'had placed'. This refers to an action that had not happened before a specific point in the past. If it were 'have not yet placed' (present perfect), it would be todavía no han colocado.
Could I use puesto instead of colocado here?
Doesn't en usually mean 'in'? Why does it translate to 'on' here?
The preposition en is very versatile and can mean 'in', 'on', or 'at' depending on the context. Since a pedestal is a physical surface that supports an object, en el pedestal naturally translates to 'on the pedestal' in English.
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