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: He slept on most of his flights to New Zealand, but Monday night he stayed awake and read.
Translation: El durmió en la mayoría de sus vuelos a Nueva Zelandia, pero el lunes se mantuvo despierto y leyó".
New: I thought this thread died some time ago, but today I saw it appear again. 
Given:
It was a complicated sentence, but I translated it the best I could.
Translated:
Era una oración complicada, pero lo traduje lo mejor que pude.
Reason:
era - ser/imperfect characteristics
traduje & pude - singular completed action in the past
New:
I was going to go to the shops but in the end I decided to kayak over to a small island and have a picnic.
Given: I didn't get done all of things I had hoped to this week.
Translated: No hice todas las cosas que hubiese querido / deseado esta semana.
Reasons: hice - preterite, describing completed action even though it's negative
hubiese querido - Gekko - I dont even know what tense that is, let alone why! Help!
New Sentence: The teacher taught the children how to do algebra but they couldn't remember the technique.
Given sentence: Their neighbor was very curious; whenever he climbed up the near hill and got a good view, he spied on them.
Su vecino era muy curioso; cada vez que escalaba la colina cercana y obtenía una vista buena, les espiaba.
'he was curious' could really go either way (estar or ser and preterite or imperfect respectively), but the rest of the sentence makes me think he was a curious person n general- so I picked imperfect and ser escalar- imperfect because it happened an indfeinite number of times obtener- imperfect for the same reason espiar- I think imperfect again for the same reason, but I'm wondering if it might be preterite b/c it sort of interrupts the action of him climbing and getting a good view
Phew!
New sentence I realized that, in fact, I have only spent eleven days on the river since I moved here.
Given sentence: The weather was very sunny but the people weren't expecting it so they got sunburnt.
El tiempo hacía mucho sol pero la gente no lo esperaba y por eso fueron quemados por el sol.
Hacer= imperfect because it is ongoing and setting the scene. Esperar= imperfect because it does not have a specific start/end and is an action that happens when it is interrupted by another action (quemar) Ser+past participle= preterite because it has a definite start and end (not sure if there is an option to use 'se' here b/c it's sort of passive voice-ish)
New sentence: I didn't get done all of things I had hoped to this week.
Given sentence:
I used up the last of the milk, where do you usually buy it?
My translation:
Edited thanks to Gekkosan: Me tomé la leche que quedaba; ¿dónde la compras normalmente?
Reason:
Using the milk up is a single, complete past action. Though buying it is habitual, the question is phrased in the present, so I used the present in translating it. This may be wrong!
New sentence:
He slept on most of his flights to New Zealand, but Monday night he stayed awake and read.
Given: The man gave a very interesting discourse and he used some good illustrations
El hombre dio un discurso muy interesante y utilizó algunas buenas ilustraciones. Both preterit because completed past action
New sentence
I have used system restore three times on my computer today, but it still does not work at all.
Given:
We were working in the garden all morning, but we weren't done yet when it began to rain.
Translated:
Estábamos trabajando en el jardín durante toda la mañana, pero no habíamos terminado cuando empezó a llover.
Reasons:
Estábamos trabajando - imperfect: states in progress: were ....ing
(I was tossing up with this one, as a specific time period is mentioned, but I think that it would need the preterite if the time period alluded to the action being finished. With this one though the rest of the sentence showed that the work wasn't finished so I used the imperfect.)
no habíamos terminado - imperfect state in progress
empezó - preterite - stressing a beginning
New Sentence:
The man gave a very interesting discourse and he used some good illustrations.
Last week, we went to a classic car show and my husband saw the car of his dreams.
La semana pasada fuimos a un espectáculo de coches clásico y mi marido vio el coche de sus sueños.
==Preterite for actions completed at a definite moment in the past (last week)
New sentence:
We were working in the garden all morning, but we weren't done yet when it began to rain.
Given sentence
I always loved watching the sunsets on the beach in Mexico.
Yo siempre adoraba mirar las puestas del sol en la playa en México.
imperfect for repeated past action
New sentence
Last week, we went to a classic car show and my husband saw the car of his dreams.
given : Did you see the news last night? They said that there was a terrible earthquake in China.
Respuesta:
¿Ud. vió las noticias anoche? Dijeron que había un terremoto terrible en China. (o viste para tú)
ver- preterite, specific action completed. decir- preterite for same reason haber- imperfect used to say "there was" much like hay is irregular and used for "there are", or "are there" in a question.
new :
I always loved watching the sunsets on the beach in Mexico.
Given:
The area seemed deserted and unhabited, but they kept on walking and came across a small cottage.
Translated:
El área parecía desierta y despoblada, pero siguieron caminando y se encontraron con una pequeña casa de campo.
Reason:
Parecía - imperfect - describing the setting
Siguieron & se encontraron - preferite - chain of events
New Sentence:
Did you see the news last night? They said that there was a terrible earthquake in China.
She took a wrong turn and drove down the road and saw the house that her grandfather had built 80 years ago.
(Ella) tomó un giro equivocado, siguió por el camino y vio la casa que su abuelo había construido hace 80 años.
==Preterite for a single events in the past and Past Perfect for a past action that happened before another past action
New sentence:
The tango was born in Buenos Aires at the end of the XIX century and was practised in the street corners and only by men at that time.
I couldn't believe my cousin didn't want to come to the party.
No podía creer que mi primo/a no quería venir a la fiesta.
==Imperfect for describing mental/emotional states in the past
New sentence:
Years later the tango was danced in the family houses and women started to take part in it.
Given
The sun looked beautiful when it was setting yesterday.
Ayer, el sol se vio hermoso cuando se ocultó en el atardecer.
The first is preterit because it is past and so is ocultar.
alt more literal translation
Ayer,el sol se veía hermoso cuando mientras se ocultaba uses imperfect as setting scene or repeated past action
New I thought I was getting these concepts, but I think I messed up when I translated "What was your day like?"
