48: Telling stories using past tenses

Question 1

ere’s a tip
Have you ever had a language misunderstanding? When learning a language it’s common to use a word that sounds similar to one in your language, but it can have a very different meaning. These misunderstandings can make really funny stories! On the next screen, Spanish student John tells us an embarrassing story that happened during his year studying in Salamanca. Pay attention to the verbs in the past, we will learn how to use them to tell stories.

When we talk about actions in the past we use the “pretérito imperfecto” to describe something or someone and the “pretérito indefinido” to talk about completed actions.

Cuando iba a la universidad, pasé un año en España. (When I went to university, I spent a year in Spain.)
Cuando llegué allí, nadie hablaba inglés. (When I arrived there, no one spoke English.)
Los acentos de mis compañeros de piso eran difíciles de entender pero aprendí muchas palabras. (My flatmates’ accents were difficult to understand but I learned a lot of words.)
We also use the “pretérito imperfecto” to talk about events that were in progress in the past, usually interrupted by a specific one-off action in “pretérito indefinido”.

Estaba con mis amigos en un bar y por accidente tiré un vaso de cerveza a una chica. (I was with my friends at a bar and by accident, I spilled a glass of beer on a woman.)
When we talk about a sequence of things that happened right after each other, we use the “pretérito indefinido”.

Cuando dije esto mis amigos y la chica empezaron a reír. (When I said that, the woman and my friends started to laugh.)
Now we know which tenses to use to tell a funny story! Let’s continue practising and learn about Spanish language and cultural misunderstandings as we go.

Answer 1

ere’s a tip

Question 2

My wallet has been stolen.

When I was going to university I spent a year in Spain. I wanted to improve my Spanish and that is why I started a Spanish course in Salamanca. When I got there no one spoke English, but the people were very friendly. I found a very nice room! I shared a flat with two boys from Madrid and Coruña and of course, their accents were difficult to understand but I learned a lot of words.

A funny story: I was with my friends in a bar and accidentally threw a glass of beer at a girl. I looked at the girl and said “I’m very pregnant”, when I said this my friends and the girl started laughing. In English we say “embarrassed” but the word in Spanish is “embarrassed”. “Pregnant” is when you are going to have a baby.

Answer 2

Me han robado la cartera.

Cuando iba a la universidad pasé un año en España. Quería mejorar mi español y por eso empecé un curso de español en Salamanca. Cuando llegué allí nadie hablaba inglés, pero la gente era muy amable. ¡Encontré una habitación muy bonita! Compartí piso con dos chicos de Madrid y Coruña y claro, sus acentos eran difíciles de entender pero aprendí muchas palabras.

Una historia graciosa: Estaba con mis amigos en un bar y por accidente tiré un vaso de cerveza a una chica. Miré a la chica y dije “estoy muy embarazado”, cuando dije esto mis amigos y la chica empezaron a reír. En inglés decimos “embarrassed” pero la palabra en español es “avergonzado”. “Embarazado” es cuando vas a tener un bebe.