G A M E - Preterite vs Imperfect
Objective: practice in the use of the past tenses, preterite & imperfect
The rules:-----------------------------
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translate the English sentence given by the person above into Spanish using the correct preterite or imperfect verb conjugations
make sure you click on N E W E S T before you begin
Then
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state whether you used the preterite or the imperfect and give a short explanation as to why you used it
- and finally
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provide a new sentence in English which includes a verb used in the past
for the next person to translate.
Have fun! ¡Diviértanse!
A suggestion: please keep your sentences simple. This is tricky stuff, so let's concentrate on the tenses, ok? - Gekko.
PS: here's a great link showing how the preterite is for action in the past whereas the imperfect is an ongoing condition in the past: Imperfecto vs Preterito and another that I've put together that may be of some use too, Pret vs Imp.
A big thanks to Gekko who 'was' kindly correcting this thread - Gekko if you have a mo' please post a thread below introducing yourself or post empty thread for me to introduce you, thus allowing the grateful participants to vote for all your hard and much appreciated work here 
Edit - Sadly Gekko doesn't come round much anymore :( we'd love it if he did but in the meantime any corrections or suggestions are gratefully accepted and if someone would like to volunteer to help with moderation of this game, that'd be awesome, please just let us know so we can welcome you officially to the possie (as us antipodeans say (ie. position))
388 Answers
Given Sentence: The Elephant understood the frame for what it was. In a panic, he dropped the gun and ran into the labyrinth o dark, smelly alleyways.
Translation: El elefante entendó la conspiración por lo que era. En un pánico, dejó caer la pistola y correó al laberinto de callejones oscuros y apestosos.
Reason:Entender= I think preterite because, by nature of being understood it had to happen in a moment or two (couldn't go on figuring it out forever- it's done, he's figured it out)... not sure about that though
Ser=imperfect because it is an ongoing state of being with no clear start or end- it simply 'was'
Dejó= perterite becuase it is an action begun and completed in the past, same is true for correr
New Sentence:I didn't go to the city. I was too busy!
**Given: **Outside, the night was as black as death, the wind howled a ghostly cry, and the bony fingers of the trees scratched at the windows, but inside the little cabin the little old lady was happy as she continued knitting and rocking in her rocking chair by the fire.
**Translation: ** Afuera, la noche era negra como la muerte, el viento aullaba un grito fantasmal, y los dedos huesudos de los árboles arañaban las ventanas; pero dentro de la cabañita, la viejecilla continuaba tejiendo feliz, meciéndose en su mecedora junto al fuego.
Explanation: Everything is in the imperfect, as the scene being describe continues uninterrupted in the past. (Not for long, though!!) 
**New Sentence: **Little did she know that her life was about to change forever, as a wet and thoroughly frightened elephant approached, hoping against hope that in the flickering light he might find sanctuary.
Sentence: The rocking chair creaked as the old lady rose and walked one, two, three, four across the floor, opened the door and peered out into the deep dark night.
La mecedora crujió como la anciana se levantó y caminó a uno, dos, tres, cuatro por el suelo, abrió la puerta y miró en la noche obscura y profunda.
Preterit: All actions are started, completed and not repeated.
New sentence: There was a time when life was simple and we did whatever we wanted.
Given:The old lady yelled "I don't want any!" "Slam!" and walked one, two, three, four, back across the floor, sat down in her chair and started knitting again; And the rocker went "creeeeeak! creeeeeeak!" and the knitting needles went "clik, clak, clik, clak, clik, clak, clik, clak....."
Translation: La viejita gritó "No estoy interesada!" "¡Blam!", y caminó uno, dos, tres, cuatro, de vuelta a lo largo del piso, se sentó en su mecedora y comenzó a tejer de nuevo. Y la mecedora crujía "crii, criiii!", y las agujas de tejer sonaban: "clic, clac, clic, clac, clic, clac..."
Explanation: Gritó and caminó are in the preterite, because are actions that took place in the past and are over. After that, the old lady went on rocking herself, so the actions "crujía" and "sonaban" are in the imperfect.
New Sentence: For the Nth time in that fateful night, the elephant refused to believe his ears and eyes. The feeling of déjà vu transported him 30 years back in a flash.
Given:
Little did she know that her life was about to change forever, as a wet and thoroughly frightened elephant approached, hoping against hope that in the flickering light he might find sanctuary.
Translated:
Lo que menos se imaginaba era que su vida estaba apunto de cambiar para siempre a medida que se acercaba un elefante mojado y asustado, esperando contra toda esperanza que en la luz parpadeante puediera encontrar refugio
Reason:
era - imp description
**estaba - imp - I have it on the best authority that being on the point of something can not be in the preterite
se acercaba - imp as it was in the process of approching and hadn't finished
pudiera - imperfect - more scene setting than completed action
New Sentence:
The slight trembling of the old wooden floorboards alerted the old woman to the impending approach. She strained her ears and could hear the faint but strangely mesmerising sound of the Elephant's ears gently oscillating in the darkness.
Sentence Given:
I didn't go to the city. I was too busy!
No fui a la ciudad. Estaba muy ocupada.
I used the preterite because it was an action that was finished and then the imperfect because it was an ongoing action.
New Sentence:
My kids almost didn't make it to soccer because I had forgotten about their practice.
Given:
I was going to write a difficult sentence, but this one should be easy.
Translated:
Iba a escribir una frase difícil, pero esta debería ser fácil.
Reason:
iba - imperfect, no specific time frame
New Sentence:
Two of the victims who were shot were members of the police.
Sentence Given:
The girl was eating an apple when suddenly, to everyone's horror, she choked and died.
La niña estaba comiendo una manzana cuando de repente, para horror de todos, se atragantó y murió.
I used "estaba" because it was not a specific point in time and used the preterite for "atragantó and murió" because it was an event that interrupted the beginning of the sentence.
New Sentence:
I was eating a piece of fruitcake when my wife-to-be walked into the room and gave me the eye.
Given:
The elephant reflected on the irony that after all the years of vain search and dead ends, they had to meet precisely today and here.
Translated:
El elefante reflexionó sobre la ironía de que después de tantos años de búsqueda en vano y callejones sin salidas, tuvieron que encontrarse precisamente hoy y aquí.
Reason:
reflexionó - preterite, I needed a little help from the G-man here- because there was no beginning or end mentioned I originally went with the imperfect although my gut was saying preterite. But as Gekko pointed out the 'reflexioning' (is that even a word lol) couldn't have gone on indefinitely so the end is implied, hence the preterite is needed. 
& tuvieron que encontrar - preterite action completed at a specific time in the past.
New Sentence:
"Maté used to be a favourite of mine," said the elephant, "but since knowing you I would rather drink chicha full of toothless old women's saliva."
Given: It was a dark and stormy night in Puerto Rico, and the wind moaned ominously, when suddenly a flash of lightning projected a disturbing shadow against the eerily floating curtains.
Translation: Era una noche oscura y tormentosa en Puerto Rico, y el viento gemía ominosamente, cuando de pronto un relámpago proyectó una sombra inquietante sobre las cortinas, que flotaban en forma extraña.
Explanation Era and gemía are imperfect because they are setting the scene. proyectó is preterite because it is interupting the scene.
New Sentence Then a wet and frightened elephant ran into the room and destroyed everything in its path.
The clever creature ruminated about how to pose the hardest question possible.
La criatura hábil rumiaba cómo plantear la pregunta más difícil posible .
ruminaba is imperfect because continuing past action
Her mother found out her daughter was engaged when she looked at the boyfriend's facebook page and saw the words, "She said, 'Yes!' ".
New Sentence:
When you went to school were you a good child?
¿Cuando ibas a la escuela eras un buen niño?
Imperfect: has to be because there is no definite timeframe.
New Sentence:
When you cooked for your parents was it good?
Given:
I was keeping track of the the customers dealings, but the cheeky wench thought I was asleep on the job!
Translated:
Yo estaba atento a los tratos entre los clientes, ¡pero la moza descarada pensó que me había dormido en el trabajo!
Reasons:
Estaba al tanto de - imperfect (keeping on track) - ongoing action
pensó -preterite - a definite thought (with fairly good reason I might add ) /singular action
había dormido - imperfect a state in the past
New Sentence:
The swain received a good lashing for having had such errant behaviour.
or if you prefer
The boy got a smack because he was naughty.
Given Breakfast was served, but nobody seemed to be hungry.
Translation El desayuno fue servido, pero nadie parecía estar hambriento.
Explanation Servido is in the preterite - the action is finished. Parecía estar is a copulative in the imperfect. They haven't eaten, their state isn't changing.
New Sentence Mientras María se entretenía leyendo novelas en las playas de Rarotonga, los estudiantes hicieron desastres con los hilos que dejó.
strong textWhoooo! This is a tough one MC, but I'll give it a whirl.
Given Sentence: We had a lovely time snorkeling with the turtles through a passage out to the coral reef but the locals told us you should only snorkel there in good weather conditions as many people had died there due to the dangerous currents.
Translation: Pasábamos un tiempo maravillosamente bien buceando con snorkel con las tortugas a través de un pasaje hacia el arrecife de coral, pero los lugareños nos dijeron que ustedes deben bucear allí solamente durante condiciones de tiempo bueno porque muchas personas hubían muerto allá debido a las corrientes peligrosas.
Reasoning: imperfect for tener because it was for an indefinite period of time. We can't tell from the given sentence whether it was for an afternoon or several days or a whole summer or even several years.
preterite for decir because it is a completed action, not ongoing. Although I could also see using the imperfect for decir, because it is unclear from the given sentence whether they were warned once or many times over a period of time.
present tense for deber because what the local told them was stated in the present tense. Although here again there is room for debate. I also could see using the past subjunctive as in the following alternate translation which is less literal but I feel captures the sense of the sentence better.
past perfect for haber muerto because many people had already died over an indefinite period of time.
Alternate Translation: Pasamos un tiempo precioso buceando con tubo con las tortugas a través de un pasaje hacia el arrecife de coral, pero los lugareños nos avisaron de que se debe bucear allí solamente durante condiciones de tiempo bueno porque muchas personas habían muerto allá debido a las corrientes peligrosas.
*In this version I used the imperfect subjunctive for deber because of the subjunctive mood of the dependent clause. I also changed from the imperfect of tener to the preterite of pasar. To me, pasar seems to cry out for the pasado in this sense in a way that tener did not. We passed some time snorkeling... sems to imply for a relativey short time, an afternoon or a day or a week. *
I changed debiéramos bucear (subjunctive) to se debe bucear (one should snorkel), It is still in the present tense because that is how it was stated in the original sentence.
New Sentence: The gate said, "You never took care of me, but Sasha rubbed butter on my hinges."
