pensé que estabas muerto
/pense ke estabas mweɾto/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I thought you were dead" is translated into Spanish as pensé que estabas muerto.
This phrase is used to express surprise when discovering that someone you believed to be deceased is actually alive. A very common and natural alternative to using the verb pensar is to use the verb creer, resulting in the phrase creía que estabas muerto.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase pensé que estabas muerto literally means "i thought that you were dead". It is composed of pensé (I thought), que (that), estabas (you were – imperfect tense) and muerto (dead).
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree with the gender of the person you are speaking to: use pensé que estabas muerta if the person is female. If you are speaking to a group of people, use the plural form pensé que estaban muertos to say "i thought you all were dead".
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers sometimes mistakenly say pensé que eras muerto. Because being dead is considered a state in this context, you should use the verb estar (estabas) rather than ser (eras).
Did you know?
- The word muerto has deep linguistic cousins in many distant languages, including the Russian word мёртвый and the Hindi word मृत.
- Beyond its literal meaning, muerto is commonly used as an adjective to describe someone who is exhausted or very tired.
- In Spanish, the verb estar is used for the state of being dead, but the language switches to ser when discussing the cause of death.
Examples in context
- La semana pasada, pensé que estabas muerto/aLast week, I thought you were dead
- Hace un mes, creí que usted había fallecido/aA month ago, I thought you had passed away
- ¡Me asusté mucho! Pensé que te habías muerto/aI got really scared! I thought you were dead
- De verdad pensé que estabas muerto/aI really thought you were dead
- ¡Dios mío, pensé que estabas muerto!My God, I thought you were dead!
- Te vi en la calle y pensé que estabas muerto.I saw you in the street and I thought you were dead.
- No te había visto en años, pensé que estabas muerto.I hadn't seen you in years, I thought you were dead.
Example conversation
Two old friends meet unexpectedly after a long time.
- AlejandroElena, ¿eres tú? ¡Pensé que estabas muerto!Elena, is that you? I thought you were dead!
- Elena¡Alejandro! Solo estuve desaparecido unos años.Alejandro! I was just out of touch for a few years.
- AlejandroMe dijeron que habías tenido un accidente.They told me you had an accident.
- ElenaFue un error, estoy muy bien ahora.It was a mistake, I am very well now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries muerto, que, CC BY-SA 4.0.
