G A M E Past Tense Practice - Preterite & Imperfect

Question

For those of you who found our last Preterite vs Imperfect game a little too advanced I thought I'd get a new one going and keep it a bit simpler.

Here's a helpful link Pret vs Imp

and some tips: (caveat emptor: bear in mind there are always exceptions and these are just basic guidelines to get you started - nothing replaces listening and reading as the best way to learn when and where to use these tenses! )

Preterite:

Specific time/duration.

Stressing the beginning/end of an action.

Narrating a sequence of completed actions/events.

Describing sudden changes in physical states or emotions.

Narrating an action that interrupts another ongoing action.

Imperfect:

Physical states (not changes).

Describing intrinsic characteristics of places, things and conditions in the past.

For ongoing actions (not completed).

Recurring and habitual actions.

Background/Setting the Scene

The weather or time in the past when other event occurred.

How to play:

Translate the given sentence into Spanish using the correct preterite or imperfect verb forms.

Post one new fairly simple sentence in English that includes at least one verb in the past.

If it runs like a story that's great fun but if not, no worries.

The thread should look like this:

GIven:

Translated:

New Sentence:

I'll start us off:

New Sentence: Who broke the cup?

Great! - --Mariana--, Nov 29, 2010

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

Answer 1

Given: I liked to run in the grass.

Translated: Me gustaba correr en la hierba.

New Sentence: I woke up late yesterday.

For a complete experience seen as a whole, "gustó" is also possible. - lazarus1907, Nov 29, 2010

Answer 2

Given: I thought these sentences were supposed to be simple. I always liked simple sentences.

Translated: I'm putting this in the too hard basket and going with Gekko's beautifully put version

Pensé que se suponía que estas oraciones fueran sencillas. Siempre me han gustado las oraciones sencillas.

New Sentence: There were too many choices for me.

There's no reason to substitute deber for "supposed", if that's what you want to use. But you need to change the form somehwat. Pensé que se suponía que estas oraciones (no tilde) fueran sencillas. Siempre me han gustado las oraciones sencillas. - Gekkosan, Apr 12, 2011

(I just posted the answer because you asked how a native would say it). - Gekkosan, Apr 12, 2011

awesome thanx, yr a legend :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 12, 2011

oh does my sentence work? I have used supposed much so I didn't know if it was meant to mean 'one supposes' and should stay singular or 'they are supposed' and be plural like I have it. - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 12, 2011

I thought it was an easy sentence. Sorry. - sanlee, Apr 12, 2011

@Kiwi: "se suponía que ser sencillas" does not work, and neither does "me gustaba las oraciónes". The second one is easier: you don't have agreement between he plural of "oración" and gustar. For the first one, check my version. - Gekkosan, Apr 13, 2011

Really, really sorry - sanlee, Apr 23, 2011

lol, no worries Sandy, all good :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 23, 2011

Answer 3

Given: I used to think that I could fly until I tried to jump off my house..

Translation: Pensaba que podía volar hasta que intenté saltar desde mi casa

New Sentence: When I went to school I had to get two buses

Wrong tense in "poder". Try again! :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 10, 2011

Ok now. - Gekkosan, Apr 12, 2011

thanks Gekkosan - aocroc, Apr 15, 2011

Answer 4

Given: I was so tired?

Translated: ¿Estaba tan cansado?

New sentence: Who won the game?

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm new at this.

It is almost impossible to tell which tense is the right one here, because both are correct here (each one with its own meaning). However, "estaba" is more likely to be used. - lazarus1907, Nov 29, 2010

Thank you. I could not determine the correct tense. - 0066c384, Nov 29, 2010

Well done dogwood and thank you Lazarus for all the helpful comments - much appreciated :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

Answer 5

Given: Where were you?

Translated: ¿Dónde fuiste?

New sentence: I was so tired.

"Dónde" should have an accent. "¿A dónde..." and "¿Adónde..." can also be used to indicate movement, but they are not compulsory. - lazarus1907, Nov 29, 2010

Nice to have you join in Leatha just one little point 'I was so tired.' is a statement - so doesn't take a question mark :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

Thank you both for the pointers. I don't know what I was thinking when I put a ?. - Leatha, Nov 29, 2010

Actually I was looking for "dónde estabas". This is a non-repetative action with no fixed time reference. Example: ¿Dónde estabas cuando te llamaba? Where were you when I called you? - MattM, Nov 29, 2010

I thought so too, otherwise I'd be inclined to read - where did you go? What about llamaba - would you choose that in the imperfect too because they were simultaneous? these are the ones that get me? - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

I don't think the specific time has to be mentioned for it to be a specific time, if that makes sense lol - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

She´s a stubborn girl and called over and over again :) - MattM, Nov 29, 2010

Plus, physical location is always estar. - ocbizlaw, Apr 7, 2011

Thank you this is very informative - sanlee, Apr 9, 2011

I hope I will understand it soon. - sanlee, Apr 9, 2011

Answer 6

Given: I woke up late yesterday.

Translated: Me levanté tarde ayer.

New Sentence: ¿Where were you?

A mí también me gusta levantarme tarde, jeje. - lazarus1907, Nov 29, 2010

Matt just a question on your new sentence and the comment you made about - estaba y llamaba - the estaba makes sense to me but why llamaba? Isn't the called you a one off completed action? why would you have chosen that? - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

Answer 7

Given: Who broke the cup?

Translated: ¿Quién rompió la taza? (preterite...stressing beginning/end of action)

New Sentence: I liked to run in the grass.

Yay first taker :) Spot on with the preterite Echoline but should it perhaps be 'rompió'? - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 29, 2010

It is "rompió". - lazarus1907, Nov 29, 2010

Answer 8

Given: I wanted to go to the movies with my friend yesterday but I had to clean up my room first.

Translation: Quería ir a el cine con mi amigo ayer, pero primero, tuve que limpio me habitación.

New sentence: We planned to go to the party, but the car didn't start.

Quese... I would have said quería. - pesta, Apr 10, 2011

"al cine", "limpiar mi" - Gekkosan, Apr 12, 2011

Answer 9

Given sentence: When I went to school I had to get two buses

Cuando yo iba a la escuela tenía que coger dos autobuses.

I met my best friend in Bible class when she was teaching a lesson.

Autobuses does not take tilde. Good otherwise. :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 12, 2011

Really! OK Thanks, Gekko! - sanlee, Apr 12, 2011

Answer 10

Given: I was thinking about you when you called me on the phone.

Translated: Estaba pensando por ti cuando me llamaste.

New: Last night I dreamt that I am dead!!

snap, lol, we must have been posting at the same time :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 10, 2011

Well done Ashis, just a couple of things I think it's 'pensar en' for think about and you missed the 'on the phone' bit at the end :) For your English 'I was dead' or 'that I had died' - a little bit tricky that one :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 10, 2011

thank you very much for corrections. - Ashis, Apr 10, 2011

I agree with Kiwigal's corrections, although this sentence can work perfectly well without "por teléfono" - in either language. - Gekkosan, Apr 10, 2011

I would say, "I was dead". - Leatha, Apr 10, 2011

I hate those dreams... - sanlee, Apr 12, 2011

Yes, I would say "Last night I dreamed that I was dead" - sanlee, Apr 12, 2011

You are doing a great job! - sanlee, Apr 12, 2011

Keep up the good word! - sanlee, Apr 23, 2011

Answer 11

Given:

I was thinking about you when you called me on the phone.

Translated:

Estaba pensando en ti cuando me llamaste por teléfono.

New Sentence:

I was feeling confident on this subject but I should be careful, often in the past when I thought I had it, I didn't really.

Perfect. - Gekkosan, Apr 10, 2011

goodness that victory dance is getting lots of use this week, whoop whoop :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 10, 2011

Answer 12

Given: Last Wednesday there was a birthday party at work for one of the students who turned 28 years old.

Translated: El miércoles pasado hubo una fiesta de cumpleaños en el trabajo para uno de los estudiantes que cumplió veintiocho años de edad/.

I spoke to my mother by telephone today and she gave me her shopping list, but I lost it. No what do I do?

Great try Sandy, I would suggest 'que cumplió 28 años de edad' because the English says 'turned' leaning more towards the preterite, rather than 'was' (had) 28 years old / tenía - good on you sticking with it, one day it'll just click :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 9, 2011

Thank you so much, Kiwi - sanlee, Apr 9, 2011

"*hubo* una fiesta de cumpleaños *en* el trabajo" - Gekkosan, Apr 9, 2011

¡Gracias, Gekkosan! - sanlee, Apr 9, 2011

Answer 13

Given: Kiwi Girl created this game.

Translated: KG creó este juego.

New Sentence: I was eating lunch when the earthquake hit.

Answer 14

Given: I had ice cream for dessert tonight.

Translated: Comí helado para el postre esta noche.

(Couldn't this also be: He comido helado esta noche.?)

New: I waited at the station until 9 pm.

bien hecho : - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

I'm not sure which is more common but I believe you can say de postre, como postre and para postre all meaning for dessert but a native speaker will likely be able to elaborate :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

Using the prefect - he comido - is a good way to show that your having icecream has some current relevance to the present. I had icecream for dessert so I better do some exercise etc :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

ooops perfect not prefect lol - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

As Kiwi says, it should be "Comí helado *de* postre". - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2011

Answer 15

I saw my friend walking along the street

Vi a mi amiga caminando por la calle

I had ice cream for dessert tonight.

Could it be: "Vi a mi amiga caminando por la calle."? - Luciente, Apr 6, 2011

Yes, thanks Luciente, Sandy you would need the preterite 'vi' rather than veía because your seeing the friend can be pinpointed to a specific time. If you used to see her walking all the time then you could use veía :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

and don't forget the personal 'a' - Vi a mi amiga :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

Yes, I know I forgot the "a", but I thought you needed a reference to a time for the preterite. I guess I just don't understand this at all. - sanlee, Apr 6, 2011

So is the time implied? - sanlee, Apr 6, 2011

A good tip I picked up lately is even if the time isn't stated if you could enter the occurrence in your diary then use the preterite - so you would be able to put that as a diary entry something like Thurs 7 April, 9 am :) Hope that helps :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

That might help. I am having a test next week. I need all the help I can get. Thanks Kiwi - sanlee, Apr 6, 2011

Yr welcome, so if you used to see her every day walking on the road that would be impossible to enter at a point in your diary so you'd use the imperfect :) - Kiwi-Girl, Apr 6, 2011

Thanks, it is still so confusing. I hope I understand it soon - sanlee, Apr 6, 2011

I will try some more - sanlee, Apr 6, 2011