Meaning of Question from "What's wrong with this Sentence" Game
I asked this question in the comments but didn't get an answer. Here was the item in the game:
Given -- Quise llamarlo pero no eres en casa.
Should be -- Quería llamarte pero no estaba en casa.
Reason -- 1) Using the preterit "quise" means that I tried to do something. However, using the imperfect "quería" changes the meaning to "I wanted" to do something.
2) "Llamarlo" refers to him/her/it/usted. I changed it to the informal tú form of "llamarte."
3) The use of "ser" is incorrect for a person's location. We need the imperfect form of "estar" here to say that "you were not at home" at the time when I called.
My question: So does the corrected sentence mean "I wanted to call you, but didn't b/c I knew you wouldn't be home, or "I tried to call you, but you weren't at home." If it means the 2nd, why isn't "quise" = tried but couldn't, correct? Thanks!
1 Answer
hi, Nancy,
"Quise" would definitely be correct, in that "I tried".
I am wondering if ther person who posted the sentence had in mind only 1 correction, which would be using a form of "estar" instead of "ser"., although the form of "estar" would have to match the direct object.
For example, if we just make that one correction we would have: "Quise llamarlo pero no estaba en casa", meaning "I tried to call him but he wasn't at home", which is a correct sentence. Or "quise llamarte pero no estabas en casa."
Sometimes we get started correcting things and we get carried away, I suppose!
Anyway, you are correct in that "quise" waas fine in the original, in the sense of "tried".
