Preterite vs Imperfect homework--these are hard

Question

Well, the first 2 exercises were childsplay next to these. I'm hoping that at least one of them is right....

1- Barbara thought Tomas knew her sister Luz.

Actually, he met Luz last night at dinner.

Barbara pensaba que Tomas conocía a su hermana Luz.

Realmente conoció a Luz anoche en la cena.

2--The businessmen wanted to discuss the issues, but their lawyers refused to.

Los empresarios querían discutir los temas, pero les abogados no quisieron.

3--The bride didn't have any gifts.

Then she got twenty gifts this morning.

La novia no tenían ninguno regalo.

Entonces tuvo veinte regalos esta mañana.

4--We didn't know who had the documents.

We found out yesterday.

No sabíamos quien tenía los documentos.

Lo supimos ayer.

5--- I wasn't able to assemble the toy.

Javier tried but couldn't assemble it either.

No podía armar el jugete.

Javier quería pero no lo pudo armar tampoco.

don't forget I think you need the personal 'a' on the first one - a su hermana :) - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 24, 2010

All of these set the scene in the first sentence (imperfect), then have an event in the second sentence (preterite)--just like you have them. - lorenzo9, Oct 25, 2010

Answer 1

Hi Echo, again!

(First of all, just one thing! I made a correction on my answer to your first thread about the imperpect-perfect, I had a silly mistake! (vi ) )

Now, this is my oppinion:

1- Barbara pensaba que Tomás conocía a su hermana Luz.

Realmente conoció a Luz anoche en la cena.

Right! These are minor mistakes, the three tenses are correct.

2-Los empresarios querían discutir los temas, pero los abogados no quisieron. This is another perfect one!

3-La novia no tenía ningún regalo.

Entonces, tuvo veinte regalos esta mañana.

Wow! Wonderful. Just a correction about the number (note that "la novia"is singular) This one can admit, at first sight, the both tenses, but if you add the second part "entonces, tuvo.... " the only possibility in the first part is imperfect, as you chose.

4-No sabíamos quién tenía los documentos.

Lo supimos ayer.

You need the direct complement here.

5-No podía armar el juguete.

Javier quiso/quería pero no lo pudo armar tampoco.

The two tenses can work here, with slightly different meanings:

Quiso: Javier tried to assemble the toy only once, but he couldn't and withdrew the idea.

Quería: Javier was trying to assemble the toy for a long time, or several times, but he was unable to, so finally he gave up the idea

This is an advanced work!

why isn't it "ningunos regalos" because gifts is plural? - Echoline, Oct 25, 2010

hmm... you can say " la novia no tuvo regalos" or "la novia no tuvo ningún regalo", but "la novia no tuvo ningunos regalos" is incorrect in Spanish - cogumela, Oct 25, 2010

I would have said: "entonces recibió veinte regalos..." else it sounds like she gave birth to them! :-) - Gekkosan, Oct 25, 2010

I disagree with the assessment for #. I think the best trasnlation is in the preterite all around. To avoid confusion, the sequence should be: 1. Yo no pude armar el juguete. 2. Javier lo intentó, pero tampoco pudo. - Gekkosan, Oct 25, 2010

Interestingly, I think that if Javier *had* succedded,then I'd have placed the first part in the imperfect: No podía armar el juguete, así que Javier lo intentó y lo logró. - Gekkosan, Oct 25, 2010

Answer 2

I am not a fluent speaker so hold out for someone who is, but this is what I think.

1- Barbara thought Tomas knew her sister Luz.

Actually, he met Luz last night at dinner.

Barbara pensó que Tomas conocía a su hermana Luz.

Realmente se conoció a Luz anoche a la cena.

2--The businessmen wanted to discuss the issues, but their lawyers refused to.

Los empresarios querían discutir los temas, pero sus abogados no quisieron. (or se negaron)

3--The bride didn't have any gifts.

Then she got twenty gifts this morning.

La novia no tenía ningunos regalos. or no tenía ningún regalo.

Entonces tuvo viente regalos esta mañana. or recibió

4--We didn't know who had the documents.

We found out yesterday.

No sabíamos quien tenía los documentos.

Supimos ayer.

5--- I wasn't able to assemble the toy.

Javier tried but couldn't assemble it either.

No podía armar el jugete.

Javier quiso pero no lo pudo armar tampoco. I am not sure about this last one. If you look at it that the first sentence is setting the scene for the second then maybe it would be imperfect, but it doesn't really seem like an interrupted scene to me so much as a series of events. First I tried, then failed and then Javier tried. So I would choose preterite.

Answer 3

The choice between the imp and the pret looks good to me, unless I've missed something. Here's a couple of suggestions on other things tho'.

On the first one it would have to be conoció for he met, (conocí is I met)

For the lawyers (plural) 'no quisieron'.

No 4 - quien for 'who' - not what

Thank you so much, MC!! - Echoline, Oct 24, 2010