Question 1

Why do we use De pequeño here instead of Como pequeño to mean "as a child"?

Accepted Answer

The preposition de is used before an adjective or noun to describe a stage of life, meaning "when I was..." or "as a...". While English uses "as a child", Spanish uses de pequeño. You could also say cuando era pequeño, but de pequeño is a very natural and common shortcut.

Question 2

Why is the imperfect tense tenía used here instead of the preterite tuve?

Accepted Answer

Tenía is used because having a pet is an ongoing state or description in the past, without a specific beginning or end mentioned. If you used the preterite tuve, it would sound like a single completed event, emphasizing the exact moment you acquired or received the rabbit.

Question 3

Why does the sentence use como for "as a pet" (como mascota) but de for "as a child" (de pequeño)?

Accepted Answer

While de is used for stages of life or personal conditions, como is used to show the function, role, or purpose of something. Here, como mascota means the rabbit functioned "as a pet". You will also see this with jobs or roles, like trabaja como profesor (he works as a teacher).

Question 4

Since there is no subject pronoun before tenía, how do we know it means "I had"?

Accepted Answer

The verb form tenía can mean "I had", "he had", "she had", or "you (formal) had". However, a sentence like this is typically a personal memory, so "I had" (yo tenía) is the most natural assumption. Also, if the speaker were female, the adjective at the beginning would change to match her gender: De pequeña, tenía un conejo.

De pequeño, tenía un conejo como mascota.

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