Questions & Answers about Compré una nueva biografía de la reina.
Why is nueva placed before biografía here?
In Spanish, placing nuevo or nueva before the noun changes its meaning to 'another' or 'new to me.' Here, una nueva biografía means the speaker bought another biography to read, even if the physical book itself was printed years ago. What would it mean if the sentence was Compré una biografía nueva de la reina?
Placing nueva after the noun gives it the literal meaning of 'brand new.' That would mean the biography itself was just published or freshly printed, rather than just being a new addition to the speaker's personal collection. Why doesn't nueva shorten before the noun, the way grande shortens to gran?
Only a small, specific group of adjectives drop their ending before a noun. While grande becomes gran and bueno becomes buen, nuevo and nueva never shorten. They keep their full form regardless of where they are placed in the sentence. Why is the preterite tense Compré used instead of the imperfect Compraba?
The preterite tense is used for single, completed events in the past. Buying this specific book happened once and is finished. If you used Compraba, it would mean 'I used to buy' or 'I was buying.' Learn Compré una nueva biografía de la reina and more in Spanish
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