Breakdown of El encuentro fue inesperado y conocí a su hermana.
ser
to be
y
and
la hermana
the sister
su
his / her / their / your (formal)
a
personal a (marks a person object)
conocer
to know / to meet (for the first time)
el encuentro
the encounter
inesperado
unexpected
Questions & Answers about El encuentro fue inesperado y conocí a su hermana.
Why does conocí mean "I met" here instead of "I knew"?
This is the main point of this lesson! The verb conocer usually describes the ongoing state of knowing someone. When you use it in the preterite tense (conocí), it focuses on the exact moment that state began. The moment you "begin to know" someone is the moment you meet them for the first time. If you wanted to say "I knew his sister" as an ongoing fact in the past, you would use the imperfect tense: conocía.
Why do we need the word a before su hermana?
This is a quick refresher on the "personal a". In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb is a specific person (or a beloved pet), you must put the preposition a right in front of it. Since the sister is a specific person receiving the action of being met, it has to be conocí a su hermana.
Why is fue used here instead of estuvo or era?
First, we use a past tense of ser (not estar) because an encounter or meeting is an event, and taking place is always expressed with ser. Second, we use the preterite tense (fue) instead of the imperfect (era) because the speaker is viewing the encounter as a completed, single event with a clear beginning and end, rather than just painting a background scene.
Could su mean "her" or "their" sister instead of "his"?
Yes, absolutely! The possessive adjective su can mean his, her, their, or even your (formal). Without a broader story around this sentence, su hermana could translate to any of those. We only know it means "his" here because of the English translation provided.
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