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Can be 'continuous' (estaba + gerundio) or simple imperfect form (andaba, creía, salía) |
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No hay forma del verbo imperfecto en inglés... |
| The food was burning |
Se estaba quemando/quemaba la comida |
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| I was watching tele |
Estaba viendo/veía la tele |
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| Imperfect simple with verbs of motion.(esp. Spain)... |
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| I was coming home |
Venía a casa (usually not 'estaba viniendo') |
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| I was going to the cinema |
Iba al cine (usually not 'estaba yendo') |
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| When there's emphasis on the reason why something happened, use the continuous imperfect. |
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| I couldn't come last night; I was studying |
No pude salir anoche; estaba estudiando |
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| Preterite continuous (estuve hablando) is used when action was prolonged but finished in the past. So it is often translated for Past Perfect 'had drunk'. Whatever happened next in these examples, the 'drinking' and 'reading' has already finished. |
Nota cómo el verbo puede cambiar en el 'past perfect' cuando se entiende que la acción ha terminado (ej. con pretérito perfecto compuesto (yo estuve andando) |
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| We had drunk a lot that day |
Estuvimos bebiendo mucho aquel día. |
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| I had been reading the whole morning |
Estuve leyendo toda la mañana. |
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To distinguish between the meaning of the preterite simple and imperfect is not always easy in English especially with the verb BE (ser, estar). Ie, do we say "fue" or "era"? The trick is often to see the preterite simple as part of the action rather than a state. In the first example the cars were expensive and continued to be expensive (state) while in the second the car we bought was expensive (action). |
Nota que en inglés no se distingue entre el pretérito simple y imperfecto. ej. 'fue' y 'era'. |
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We went to the car dealer's to see the cars. They were very expensive. |
Fuimos al concesionario para ver los coches. Eran muy caros. |
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We bought a car. It was very expensive. |
Compramos un coche. Fue muy caro. |
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They saw the monkeys in the zoo. They were very ugly. |
Vieron los monos en el zoo. Eran muy feos. |
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He killed the duck by shooting it in the head. It was an ugly scene. |
Mató al pato de un tiro en la cabeza. Fue una escena muy fea. |
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| But use imperfect continuous if a past action is interrupted by another. |
Usa el 'past continuous' (I was walking) cuando una acción se interrumpe por otra. |
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| I was having a bath when the phone rang |
Estaba tomando un baño cuando sonó el teléfono. |
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| Pilar was doing her homework when her mother came in |
Pilar estaba haciendo sus deberes cuando entró su madre |
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| ...or when it is understood that the action was happening before and during a time mentioned... |
...o cuando se entiende que la acción estaba pasando antes y durante del momento del adverbio de tiempo... |
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| At 6 o'clock yesterday evening I was washing the dishes |
Ayer a las seis de la tarde estaba fregando los platos |
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To describe scenes in prose before the action begins, the ''pretérito imperfecto simple' is often preferred. This is because nothing interrupts the actions so the continuous imperfect is avoided. |
...y al principio de una narrativa para describir la escena antes de que empiece la acción... |
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It was a lovely day and the birds were singing in the trees |
Hacía un día maravilloso y los pájaros cantaban en los árboles |
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Policeman Plod was walking down the street. He was a happy man. |
El agente Pérez de la policía caminaba por la calle. Era un hombre feliz. |
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Note the use of the 'pretérito imperfecto simple' when we talk about habitual events in the distant past (you could also use 'solía + inf.)... |
Pero cuando hablamos de costumbres en un pasado lejano, hay que emplear el 'past simple' o 'used to' + inf. para dar más énfasis a la acción repetida o continua... |
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When I was a child, I went (used to go) for long walks in the park with my grandfather |
Cuando yo era niño, daba (solía dar) paseos largos en el parque con mi abuelo. |
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I smoked (used to smoke) a lot in those days |
Fumaba (solía fumar) mucho en aquellos tiempos |