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Ayer la desobedecí y mi castigo fue perder la paga.

Ayer la desobedecí y mi castigo fue perder la paga.
Yesterday I disobeyed her and my punishment was losing my allowance.
From Lesson 259:Conditional warnings (como)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ayer la desobedecí y mi castigo fue perder la paga.

This sentence states a past event. How would I rephrase it as a warning using the como structure we are learning?
You would use como followed by the present subjunctive. To warn someone, "If you disobey me, your punishment will be losing your allowance," you would say: Como me desobedezcas, tu castigo será perder la paga.
Why is it la desobedecí instead of le desobedecí?
The verb desobedecer (to disobey) takes a direct object in standard Spanish. Because the speaker is talking about a female (her), we use the direct object pronoun la.
Why does "losing" translate to the infinitive perder instead of the "-ing" form perdiendo?
In English, we often use words ending in "-ing" as nouns, like "losing my allowance." In Spanish, you cannot use the -ndo form for this. When a verb acts as a noun in a sentence, you must always use the infinitive, which is why we use perder here.
Is la paga the normal way to say "allowance"?
Yes, in Spain, la paga is the standard, everyday term for the pocket money or allowance that parents give to their children.

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