Breakdown of Estábamos a punto de llegar al hotel cuando el coche pinchó.
el coche
the car
llegar
to arrive
el hotel
the hotel
al
to the (m)
cuando
when (not in questions)
estar a punto de
to be about to
pinchar
to get a flat tire
Questions & Answers about Estábamos a punto de llegar al hotel cuando el coche pinchó.
How does the phrase "estábamos a punto de" work here?
The expression estar a punto de followed by an infinitive means "to be about to" do something. Here, combined with the infinitive llegar, it translates directly to "we were about to arrive."
Why use the imperfect tense (estábamos) first, and then the preterite (pinchó)?
This is a classic "interrupted action" sentence. The imperfect (estábamos a punto de llegar) sets the scene by describing the ongoing situation. The preterite (pinchó) is used for the sudden, one-time event that interrupted it. The conjunction cuando (when) acts as the bridge between the two tenses.
Doesn't pinchar normally mean "to poke" or "to click"?
Why do we say llegar al hotel instead of llegar en el hotel?
English speakers often want to use en because we say "arrive at" or "arrive in." However, in Spanish, the verb llegar always requires the preposition a to indicate a destination. Here, a combines with el to form the mandatory contraction al.
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