Past continuous vs Past simple, Translate to Spanish, intermediate to advanced students of Spanish

Question

I created this exercise for my students today and this time Jenny translated the sentences to English. Let's see how you do, I did not agree with her translation on some sentences...but

Let's see how you do, no flashcards this time, but try to sound as natural as possible.

I will post two sets of sentences.

1. Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

2. While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident

3. What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

4. While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

5. Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

6. His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

7. After we had eaten, we went to play football.

Nice exercises! :) - webdunce, Feb 15, 2011

fixed list formatting :) - Izanoni1, Feb 15, 2011

and the answers? - dewclaw, Feb 16, 2011

Answer 1

1. Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.
Ayer estaba yendo al cíne cuando me encontré con mi mejor amigo.
2. While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident
Mientras iba caminando a la escuela la última semana de repente vio un accidente.
3. What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?
¿Qué estabas haciendo mientras tu profesor explicaba la nueva lección?
4. While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.
Mientras veía la tele, mi hermano estaba haciendo su tarea.
5. Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.
Ayer, mi papá me llamó mientras dormía.
6. His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.
Su madre estaba poniendo la mesa cuando dejó caer un plato.
7. After we had eaten, we went to play football.
Despúes de comer fuimos a jugar al fútbol.

este ejercicio es perfecto! - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

quizás mejor: ayer iba al cine..papá...not good here. Also better,,,: se le cayó un plato. - 00494d19, Feb 18, 2011

enhorabuena - Deanski, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 2

Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident

What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

After we had eaten, we went to play football.*

Ayer iba al cine cuando tropecé a mi mejor amiga.

Mientras de andaba a la escuela la semana pasada, de pronto vio un accidente.

¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando explicó tu maestra la nueva lección?

Cuando veía televisión mi hermano hizo la tarea. (Tempted to use hacía here.)

Ayer, me telefoneó mi padre cuando estaba dormiendo.

Su madre ponía la mesa cuando se le cayó una placa.

Despues de comer, fuimos para jugar al fútbol.

Después de comer...sounds great! I bet that's it, too! - webdunce, Feb 16, 2011

That or luz's después de haber comer...somehow I don't think it's "después de que habíamos comido" like I put. - webdunce, Feb 16, 2011

wow, greg, not a single sentence correct...dunce corner it is, meet Cathy there! - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

¡No puede ser! - Goyo, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 3

Ayer iba al cine cuando me tropecé con mi mejor amiga.

Mientras caminaba a la escuela la semana pasada de repente vio un accidente.

¿Qué estaba haciendo mientra explicó su profesora la lección?

Durante el tiempo que miraba la tele, mi hermano hizo los deberes.

Ayer, mi padre me llamó mientras que yo dormía.

Su madre estaba poniendo la mesa cuando se le cayó un plato.

Después de comer, fuimos a jugar futból.

Why do I hit submit so quickly, lol no 3 type mientra's' and missed the word 'nuevo' on the end. - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

edit, thre are few answers so it cannot be mistaken for peeking, jeje - 00494d19, Feb 14, 2011

lol :) - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

speaking of peeking when I typed 'jugar futból' I knew I was missing, now I've 'peeked' at Goyo's I can see what it was, der! - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

well, este tiene un "pase"...no es maravilloso pero bueno...al futbol, why yo dormía, was the father calling and sleeping? and you should know at this level, ¡¡¡ver la tele!!! - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

ok thanks Heidita :) - I put the 'yo' in as a joke - as if it was possible that he was calling in his sleep, lol - not a good joke for the exercise je je - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 4

Yo creo que tengo nivel pre-intermedio. Por lo tanto hay algos equivocaciónes.

1. Ayer, iba al cine cuando yo encontré mi mejor amigo.

2. Mientras él estaba caminando a la escuela la semana pasada, subiamente vio un accidente.

3. ¿Qué estabas haciendo mientras tu maestro explicó la leccion nueva?

4. Mientras mi hermano estaba mirando la television, él hizo su tarea.

5. Ayer, mi padre me llamó mientras estuve durmiendo.

6. La madre de él estaba poniendo la mesa cuando ella se cayó un plato.

7. Despues tenemos comido, fuimos a jugar fútbol.

not good enough, look at the answers;) - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 5

Excellent job by Vikingo and Izanoni, good job by Sally

Three members were sent to the dunce corner

Ladies and gentlemen, ver la tele , that is essential knowledge! And mistakes like dormiendo, "irando"..omg

And papi or mami??? I was using father and mother. Papi or Mami are not acceptable unless you are on a familiar basis with somebody.

Dew, you were asking, there are a lot of exercises on the

Learning resources

Actually, you used mother and dad, which I'm assuming are madre and papá respectively. I did use papi for dad, but upon reflection, papi is probably more like daddy, which is something only little children call their fathers. - webdunce, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 6

•Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

Ayer estaba yendo al cine cuando me tropecé con mi mejor amiga.

•While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident

La semana pasada, mientras andaba al colegio, de repente vio un accidente.

•What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando tu profesora explicaba la nueva lección?

•While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

Mi hermano hacía sus deberes mientras veía la tele.

•Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

Ayer, mi padre me llamó mientras estaba durmiendo.

•His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

Su madre estaba poniendo la mesa cuando se le cayó un plato.

•After we had eaten, we went to play football.

Despues de comer, fuimos a jugar al fútbol.

actually, well done, you did not get the tense right on sentence 3, estaba yendo al cine...sounds odd, me tropecé con... - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

gracias Heidi, sí que estaba vacilando entre 'explicó' y 'explicaba' y no lo escogí bien. :P - galsally, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 7

Encontré a mi amiga favorita cuando iba al cine.

Andaba al colegio la semana pasada cuando de repente vio un accidente.

¿Qué hacía cuando la profesora explicó la lección nueva?

Cuando veía la televisión mi hermano hizo su tarea.

Cuando dormía ayer, mi padre me llamó por teléfono.

Su madre ponía la mesa cuando se le cayó el plato.

Después de habíamos comido, fuimos al jugar el fútbol.

acceptable - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 8

Ayer iba al cine cuando me encontré a mi mejor amigo.

En la semana pasada, caminando a escuela, vio de repente un choque.

¿Qué hacías mientras tu profesora explicaba la lección nueva?

Mirando la televisión, mi hermano hacía su tarea.

Ayer, dormía cuando mi papi me llamó.

Su madre ponía la mesa cuando se le cayó una plata.

Después de que habíamos comido, nos fuimos a jugar fútbol.

not good enough, look at the answers;) - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 9

Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

Iba al cine ayer cuando me encontré mi mejor amigo.

While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident

Mientras caminaba a la escuela la semana pasada vió un choque.

What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

¿Qué hacías mientras explicó tu maestro la nueva lección?

While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

Mientras veía la tele mi hermano hizo su tarea.

Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

Mi papá me llamaba cuando estuve dormiendo.

His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

Su madre hacía la mesa cuando se le cayó un plato.

After we had eaten, we went to play football.

Después de comíamos fuimos al jugar fútbol.

Ok. Well, I'm not sure if I'm at this level of experience yet, but here's my guess!

Oops. Number 2 is missing 'de repente'. - estudiante9871, Feb 14, 2011

Yeah, and No.6 should be ponía la mesa. Poner la mesa, hacer la cama. :P - estudiante9871, Feb 14, 2011

You can click the "edit" link on any of your posts and make the changes you desire. - webdunce, Feb 15, 2011

True, but I only noticed after seeing others' posts. - estudiante9871, Feb 15, 2011

Oh, I see. :-) - webdunce, Feb 16, 2011

wow, another candidate....meet greg and Cathy at the dunce corner, mark , not a single sentence correct - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 10

•Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

Ayer, iba al cine cuando tropecé con mi mejor amigo.

•While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident.

Cuando andaba a la escuela la semana pasada, de repente vio un accidente.

•What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando tu profesor(a) daba la nueva lección?

•While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

Mientras (él) veía la tele, mi hermano hacía sus tareas escolares.

•Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

Ayer, mi padre me llamó por teléfono cuando (yo) estaba dormido.

•His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

Su madre estaba poniendo la mesa cuando se le cayó un plato.

•After we had eaten, we went to play football.

Después de haber comido, nos fuimos a jugar al fútbol.

I was wondering about alternatives here and there, but I chose these in a (futile?) attempt to sound natural.

este ejercicio es casi perfect;) jeje, dormido puede ser sleepy...mejor durmiendo, despues de comer...cositas muy pequeñas, bien hecho:) - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Answer 11

Keep in mind, that this is a natural translation of a native speaker of my originally Spanish sentences.

That is, Jenny changed some tenses to others...she said it sounded more natural, but...they are certainly not the same tenses I used

Actually, past continuous is a continuous action...same in Spanish, so I am still wondering why she used past simple in some sentences.

I think in English if there's only one verb in the sentence we chose, and only use the past continuous if we want to stress the continuity of the action but if there are two verbs we are more likely to use the past continuous to to set the scene and past - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

simple to talk about the shorter completed action. - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

I have to admit though that I didn't pay enough attention to the title of this thread and I just went ahead and translated. :( oopsie - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 14, 2011

Answer 12

•Yesterday I was going to the cinema when I bumped into my best friend.

Ayer estaba irando al cine cuando enconté mi mejor amiga.

•While he was walking to school last week he suddenly saw an accident

Durante estaba caminando al escuela la semana pasada, de repente vio un accidente.

•What were you doing while your teacher explained the new lesson?

¿Qué estaba haciendo cuando su profesora explicó la nueva lección?

•

While he was watching TV, my brother did his homework.

Mientras estaba mirando la tele, mi hermano hizo su tarea.

•Yesterday, my dad phoned me while I was sleeping.

Ayer mi papá me llamó cuando estaba dormido.

•His mother was setting the table when she dropped a plate.

Su mamá estaba poniendo la mesa cuando se le cayó el plato.

After we had eaten, we went to play football.

Después estabamos cominedo, fuimos jugar al fútbol.

---

Please don't send me to the DC. I am on a diet and cannot eat all of the wonderful chocolate there.

Irando = yendo, dormido = durmiendo, cominedo = comiendo - webdunce, Feb 15, 2011

After three or four years, I'm still having to frequently check the conjugator for common verbs. For example, I would have said dormiendo, but it's durmiendo. - webdunce, Feb 15, 2011

But there is a general pattern with IR and ER verbs...root - IR/ER + iendo. IR is an IR verb with no root. So it's just iendo, but we need to change the i to y just so it looks nicer. ;-) - webdunce, Feb 15, 2011

sorry cathy, but this excerice deserves it, not a single sentence correct, you can do better than that;) - 00494d19, Feb 17, 2011

Thank you, web. I did my very best without using translator, dictionary or conjugater. Unfortunaltey, it was the very best (although there were some typos) that I could do. I am here to learn - Echoline, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 13

New thread, part two, sorry, webdunce already added the link, just in case

Answer 14

Can we do this again, I learned a lot by reading each entry.

We are already. Check my post after yours for the link. - webdunce, Feb 18, 2011

Answer 15

We already are doing it again.