Word
El gobierno quería un parque. No obstante, el arquitecto construyó un rascacielos.
Meaning
The government wanted a park. Nevertheless, the architect built a skyscraper.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of El gobierno quería un parque. No obstante, el arquitecto construyó un rascacielos.
un
a, an, some
el parque
the park
querer
to want; to love (a person)
el gobierno
the government
Questions & Answers about El gobierno quería un parque. No obstante, el arquitecto construyó un rascacielos.
Why do we use no obstante here, and can I use sin embargo instead?
No obstante translates to "nevertheless" or "however," introducing a contrast or partial opposition to the first sentence. In this context, it is perfectly interchangeable with sin embargo. Both mean the same thing here and act the exact same way, though sin embargo is a bit more common in everyday spoken Spanish while no obstante sounds slightly more formal.
Why is quería in the imperfect tense but construyó is in the preterite?
This perfectly shows how the two past tenses work together to create contrast. The imperfect quería (wanted) describes an ongoing background desire without a specific beginning or end point. The preterite construyó (built) is used because the architect's action of actually building the skyscraper was a completed, distinct event that went against that ongoing desire.
The word rascacielos ends in an 's' even though it's singular here (un rascacielos). How does that work?
Does no obstante ever change the word order, or must it always go at the beginning of the second sentence?