Breakdown of Nos explicó que ese día no podía venir.
no
no / not
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
poder
to be able to
el día
the day
Questions & Answers about Nos explicó que ese día no podía venir.
Why is podía in the imperfect tense rather than the preterite (pudo)?
This sentence uses reported speech. The original speaker likely said 'I can't come' (No puedo venir) in the present tense. When reporting this past conversation, present tense verbs shift to the imperfect (podía) to describe the ongoing situation at that time.
Why use ese día instead of a specific day of the week?
When repeating what someone said in the past, time markers change. If they originally said 'I can't come today' (hoy), the word hoy changes to ese día (that day) because from your current perspective, that day is now in the past.
Why is nos placed at the very beginning of the sentence?
Why is venir left in the infinitive form rather than conjugated?
When two verbs are used together to form a single idea, usually only the first verb is conjugated. Here, the helping verb podía is conjugated, so the main action verb, venir, must remain in its infinitive (dictionary) form.