Word
Si no te gustaba el regalo, podrías habérmelo dicho.
Meaning
If you didn't like the gift, you could have told me.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Si no te gustaba el regalo, podrías habérmelo dicho.
no
no / not
poder
to be able to
me
to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)
gustar
to like
Questions & Answers about Si no te gustaba el regalo, podrías habérmelo dicho.
Why is gustaba in the imperfect indicative here, instead of the past perfect subjunctive (hubiera gustado) normally used for past conditionals?
While a purely hypothetical past condition normally requires the past perfect subjunctive (Si no te hubiera gustado), using the imperfect indicative (Si no te gustaba) frames the condition as an established past fact rather than a hypothesis. It translates closer to: If it was the case that you didn't like it.
Why does the attached pronoun word habérmelo have a written accent mark?
When you attach pronouns to the end of an infinitive, you must maintain the original spoken stress of the verb. The word haber is naturally stressed on its final syllable. By adding the indirect object me and the direct object lo, that stressed syllable becomes the third from the end of the new word. Spanish spelling rules dictate that words stressed on the third-to-last syllable always require a written accent, resulting in habérmelo.
Could I put the pronouns me and lo before the verbs instead of attaching them to the end of haber?
What grammatical structure creates the meaning of 'could have told' in this sentence?