More help with Imperfect vs. Preterite

Question

I'm trying very hard to perfect the Imperfect and Preterite tenses while using them in context. I'm practicing writing sentences using both tenses. Can someone help me correct any errors they might come across in these sentences. Thanks in advance for your help.

I have done a lot of practice exercises, I've read the reference articles on this site, I've also read the other threads related to Preterite vs. Imperfect. So, this is just some additional practice for me. I have a mid-term on both tenses very soon, and I want to be very prepared for my test.

(1) We told Roberto that we wanted to go to the beach.

Le dijimos a Roberto que quería ir a la playa.

(2) I always eat breakfast

Yo siempre comía desayuno.

(3)My husband and I frequently take our dogs for a walk around the lake.

Frecuentmente, mi esposo y yo tomaban nuestros perros por un paseo alrededor el lago.

I will most likely add a couple more sentences as I study.

Gracias a todos!!

frecuentemente :) - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 25, 2010

Answer 1

The boy knew she was coming.

El chico sabía que ella venía

I just came across this on another site. Can someone tell me why the imperfect tense of venir was used in this sentence?

Thanks for helping!

It doesn't have to be. It could be either way, depending on context. - Gekkosan, Oct 25, 2010

could it? more often than not it seems that if your sentence has 'was/were' you will need the imperfect. If it was preterite wouldn't it say 'he knew she came' finito? - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 25, 2010

Answer 2

We told Roberto that we wanted to go to the beach.

Le dijimos a Roberto que queríamos ir a la playa.

Answer 3

"I always eat breakfast": This sentence is in the present in English, so it would have to be present in Spanish: siempre como.

If you use the past tense - "ate", then it could go either way, depending on context.

I always ate breakfast until I became a fakir - siempre comí

I always ate breakfast when I was in the Navy: siempre desayunaba cuando estaba en la Armada.

"My husband and I frequently take our dogs for a walk around the lake." Likewise, this is in present: "siempre llevamos a nuestros perros a dar un paseo":

If you write: "frequently took our dogs" then it's imperfect: llevábamos a nuestros perros a dar un paseo".

Thanks! - debdelafuente, Oct 25, 2010