Log inSign up

La geóloga dijo que eso era un fósil.

La geóloga dijo que eso era un fósil.
The geologist said that that was a fossil.
From Lesson 237:Probability in the past (-ía)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about La geóloga dijo que eso era un fósil.

Why is era (imperfect) used here instead of the preterite (fue)?
This is an example of reported speech. The geologist originally said, "That is a fossil" (Eso es un fósil). When we report a present tense statement in the past ("She said that..."), the present tense (es) shifts back to the imperfect tense (era), just like in English ("is" becomes "was").
Since this lesson is about using the conditional for probability, how would this sentence change if she were just guessing?
If the geologist hadn't been certain and was making a guess about a past situation, you could use the conditional tense: La geóloga dijo que eso sería un fósil (The geologist said that that was probably a fossil). Because she used the imperfect (era) instead, we know she was stating it as a fact.
Why do we use the neuter pronoun eso instead of ese or esa?
Eso is used when referring to an unidentified object, a general situation, or something whose gender isn't known yet. Since they are pointing at a mysterious thing and calling it "that" before identifying it, the gender-neutral eso is the right choice.
Why does geóloga have an accent mark on the "o"?
Geóloga has its spoken stress on the third-to-last syllable (ge-ó-lo-ga). In Spanish, words stressed on this syllable always require a written accent mark.

Learn La geóloga dijo que eso era un fósil and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →