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
Sentence Given:
This morning I was preparing a lecture for my students but I got bored so I went out for a walk to visit my friends.
Esta mañana yo estaba preparando una conferencia para mis alumnos, pero me aburría, así que iba a visitar a mis amigos.
Ok, before I get sent to the dunce corner---I used subject pronouns to clarify the imperfect word being used!! Both the "yo" form and the "él, ella, and Ud." form uses the same conjugation in the imperfect so I was distinguishing them from each other. This should make my answer of what tense to use clear as well. There is no definite timeframe for the morning work or the time with friends. 
Correct Revision: Esta mañana estaba preparando una lección para mis alumnos, pero me aburrí y salí a caminar y visitar a mis amigos.
New Sentence:
I went walking after midnight out in the moonlight.
Old sentence: Remember the man who was called Paul and who wore glasses? Well, he got very sick and he nearly died.
¿Recuerdas al hombre que se llamaba Paul y que usaba gafas? Pues estuvo muy enfermo y casi muere
*** Correction thanks to Gekko: so, estuvo is preterit because he was sick at one time and we assume he's better now? Why is muere in present tense when it's in past tense in the original? (My other guess was maybe it should be subjunctive because it wasn't reality, he didn't really die, but I think I'm 6 kinds of confused about subjunctive right now. 
)
Not as sure about this one... not sure if "remember" should be recordar or acordarse, and if "estar" can have the meaning of "get" or "become" sick. The next 3 verbs are imperfect because they happened in general (all throughout his lifetime).
New sentence: Did you know that last month was my parents' anniversary? They were traveling at that time, so they probably didn't celebrate it then!
Given: Last week I had a job interview, and I thought I didn't do too well, but yesterday they called me and offered the job!
La semana pasada tuve una entrevista de trabajo y pensé que no me había ido muy bien, pero ayer me llamaron y me ofrecieron el trabajo!
I have used the preterite for each verb (except creer)because they are all completed actions in the past. I have to admit I vacilated between the preterite and imperfect for 'creer' but ending up going with the imperfect because he believed it for an unstated, unspecified period of time.
(but I am still learning so would be happy for any suggestions or corrections -- darn, just when I thought I was getting it - I think I'm over-thinking it lol 
)
New sentence:
actually I'm going to put two for you to choose from - an easier one if you're just beginning and a harder one if you want to really be tested
> When you went to school were you a good child?
or
Mary tried to buy the house but John didn't want her to buy it.
My dog used to dig in the yard until we bought her some toys to play with.
Mi perro solía cavar en el patio hasta la compráremos algunos juguetes para jugar.
IMPERFECT-- ' used to' indicates the sentence tells about habitual action.
When I was 6 year's old, my family lived in Delhi.
Given: When I was in fourth grade I almost flunked handwriting and physical education, but I didn't know because the grading system in California was complicated..
Translated: Cuando era en cuarto grado, casi saqué malas notas en caligrafía e education física, pero no lo sabía porque el sistema de grado era complicado.
Corrected: Cuando estaba en cuarto curso (I'm taking curso from an example in the Dictionary), casi suspendí caligrafía y educación física, pero no lo sabía porque el sistema de clasificación era complicado.
Reason: The first "estaba" is imperfect because it is describing a scene, "suspendí" because it is a completed action, sabía because its over an unspecified time, and the last era because we are describing it.
New: I wanted to tell you something, but now I don't because I forgot what I wanted to say.
Given: Because I was fired from my job last week, I applied to several businesses downtown.
Translation: La semana pasada fui despedido de mi empleo, y por eso solicitaba a algunas empresas en el centro del pueblo.
2nd effort, after helpful hints: La semana pasada fui despedido de mi trabajo y , por eso, solicitaba trabajo a algunas empresas en el centro del pueblo.
Reason: The being fired was a one off happening, but the applying for jobs is on-going. And I have no idea what down-town is, I'm just guessing a bit. The por is a guess, maybe it should be 'a'?
New Sentence: All the businesses turned me down so I decided to commit suicide, there and then.
Given: "When I was in Barcelona, I spent all the time watching football matches."
de niño jugaba las munñecas de mi hermana when i was a child i used to play with my sister's dolls imperfect
Given: The woman looked exactly like a young Marilyn Monroe but something seemed wrong.
Translation: La mujer se veía exactamente como una joven Marilyn Monroe, pero había algo extraño.
New Sentence: Although the woman was very beautiful, she had a striking resemblance to Frankenstein, as though she had just been created.
Given My kids almost didn't make it to soccer because I had forgotten about their practice.
Mis niños casi se pierden el fútbol porque se me había olvidado que tenían práctica.
I did what Gekko said and used a different tense.
New He almost missed a doctor appointment and the last time he missed one the charge him fifty dollars.
Given Sentence
Her mother found out her daughter was engaged when she looked at the boyfriend's facebook page and saw the words, "She said, 'Yes!' ".
Su madre descubrió que su hija se había comprometido cuando vió la página de facebook del novio y vio las palabras, ' Ella dijo, ' ¡Sí! " '.
Estuvo prometida is imperfect because continuing past action (had not happened has of that time) All the rest are preterit because past action completed and story narration
New Sentence It was August 8, 2008, the day my son got married, and I was very happy.
Given: When we were first married, we made bookshelves out of wood and used them as dressers for our clothes by putting curtains on the front of them.
Cuando eramos recién casados, hicimos unas estanterías de madera, pusimos las cortinas en la parte delantera y las usábamos como cómodas para nuestras ropas.
I have a feeling this has some problems and I was a bit liberal with changing the word order around, but I think that the meaning is maintained.
'eramos' is imperfect because it has no clear start or end, it also is the action that is taking place when the other actions happen 'hicimos' is preterite as it is a singular, competed action 'pusimos' is in the same series of events as 'hacer' 'usábamos' is imperfect because the action was ongoing with no clear start or end
New sentence: When I saw him, I couldn't believe how big he'd gotten.
When to use the preterite and the present in spanish especially when asking a question
