46: Pretérito indefinido vs pretérito imperfecto II

Question 1

In the previous unit, we learned about when and how to use the “pretérito indefinido” and the “pretérito imperfecto”. In this unit, we’ll continue to learn how to use both these past tenses alongside each other.

We often use both tenses together when talking about the past. When this happens, we use the “pretérito imperfecto” to describe the situation and the “pretérito indefinido” to talk about a specific action.

Mis hijos nacieron (pretérito indefinido) cuando vivíamos (pretérito imperfecto) en Francia. (My children were born when we were living in France.)
Entré (pretérito indefinido) en la universidad cuando tenía (pretérito imperfecto) 18 años. (I started university when I was 18 years old.)
We also use the “pretérito imperfecto” to talk about events in progress in the past, usually interrupted by short and specific actions in “pretérito indefinido”.

Vi (pretérito indefinido) a tu hermana cuando volvía (pretérito imperfecto) a casa. (I saw your sister when I was going back home.)
Empezó (pretérito indefinido) a llover cuando salía (pretérito imperfecto) de casa. (It started to rain when I was leaving the house.)
We use the “pretérito indefinido” to describe a sequence of actions that occurred one after the other.

Comimos cuando llegaron mis padres. (We had lunch when my parents arrived.) = first my parents arrived and then we had lunch. Two specific actions, one after the other.
Salí de casa (pretérito indefinido) cuando dejó (pretérito indefinido) de llover. (I left the house when it stopped raining.) = first it stopped raining and then I left the house. One action happened after the other.
Have you noticed that we used the “pretérito imperfecto” of the verb “estar” followed by gerund? We use estaba + gerundio to describe past actions in progress, which are usually interrupted by a shorter action.

Estábamos comiendo (action in progress) cuando llegaron (action interrupting) mis padres. (We were having lunch when my parents arrived.)
Estaba duchándome (action in progress) cuando sonó (action interrupting) el teléfono. (The phone rang when I was having a shower.)
We also use “estaba + gerundio” to describe the circumstances in which an event happened.

Cuando llamaron a la puerta yo estaba durmiendo y Marcos estaba viendo la tele. (When they knocked on the door I was sleeping and Marcos was watching tv.)
Andrés estaba jugando al fútbol cuando se rompió el brazo. (Andrés was playing football when he broke his arm.)
There are some verbs with which we don’t normally use “estar + gerundio”: preferir (to prefer), gustar (to like), querer (to want), necesitar (to need), tener (to have), llevar (to wear), venir (to come), ir (to go).

Tenía mucho hambre cuando llegué a casa. (I was very hungry when I arrived home.)
¿De dónde venías cuando te vi? (Where were you coming from when I saw you?)

Answer 1

Here’s a tip

Question 2

My children were born when we lived in France.
I entered college when I was years old
I saw your sister when she was coming home.
We ate when my parents arrived.
I saw your sister when she came home
She started to rain when she left the house.
We were eating when my parents arrived.
She was taking a shower when the phone rang.

Answer 2

Mis hijos nacieron cuando vivíamos en Francia.
Entré en la universidad cuando tenía años
Vi a tu hermana cuando volvía a casa.
Comimos cuando llegaron mis padres.
Vi a tu hermana cuando volvía a casa
Empezó a llover cuando salía de casa.
Estábamos comiendo cuando llegaron mis padres.
Estaba duchándome cuando sonó el teléfono.