Phrase · 😔 Regrets and reproaches
¡Quién lo hubiera dicho! Hace un año ni se conocían.
Who would have thought it! A year ago they didn't even know each other.
B2regretting reproachinginformalAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
¡Quién1pronounwhosing.lo1object pronounitél · 3rd sing. · direct objecthubiera1verbwould havehaber · subjunctive · imperfect · 3rd sing.dicho1verbsaiddecir · participle · past · masc. · sing.!Hace2verbago (hace)hacer · present · 3rd sing.undeterminerauno · masc. · sing. · indefiniteaño2nounyearmasc. · sing.ni3adverbnot evense3object pronoun(each other)3rd · direct objectconocían3verbthey knewconocer · imperfect · 3rd pl..
- Quién → hubiera: mood
- dicho → lo: obj
- Hace → año: obj
Word for word: “Who would have said it! A year ago they didn't even know each other.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1¡Quién lo hubiera dicho! = who would have thought it!: a fixed exclamation of surprise with the pluperfect subjunctive. Past unreal conditions: pluperfect subjunctive and conditional perfect →
- 2hace un año = a year ago: hace + a time span counts back from now. Time expressions: hace, desde, desde hace, hace … que →
- 3ni se conocían = they didn't even know each other: ni = not even; se is reciprocal. Impersonal and passive se; reciprocal se →
Variations
- ¡Quién lo hubiese dicho! Hace un año ni se conocían.
- ¡Quién lo iba a decir! Hace un año ni se conocían.