G A M E Past Tense Practice - Preterite & Imperfect
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?
114 Answers
Given: I met a person on Skype the other day who used to live on Guam.
Translation: Conocí una persona en Skype el otro día que solía vivir en Guam.
New Sentence: Yesterday, I sold some collectibles that I collected when I was young.
Given: When I got home from work last night I saw a car in my driveway
Translation. Cuando llegué a mi casa desde trabajo vi un coche en mi camino de entrada
New Sentence. It was very dirty , I cleaned the window and looked inside
Given: Last night I dreamt that I was a singer.
Translated: Anoche soñé que yo era un cantante.
New Sentence: I saw my friend walking along the street.
I waited at the station until 9 pm.
Esperé en la estación hasta las nueve de la noche.
I worked in the city today.
Given: I went over to apologize. This time he was right.
Translated: Me acerqué a pedirle disculpas. Esta vez él tenía razón.
New Sentence: We were thinking, what should we do next?
Given: We were thinking, what should we do next?
Translated: Nosotros estamos pensar, qué debemos hacer próximo?
New Sentence: I went shopping and bought a new shirt! It was really pretty!
Given: Suddenly, while I was pondering about what to eat for supper, somebody knocked at the door.
Translated: De repente, mientras pensaba en qué comer para la cena, alguien llamó a la puerta.
New Sentence: I went over to apologize. This time he was right.
Given:
I walked in and saw that my sister was reading and my dad was eating.
Ups, sorry, my bad. I'll try once again:
Translated: Entré y vi a mi hermana leyendo y mi padre comiendo.
New sentence: Suddenly, while I was pondering about what to eat for supper, somebody knocked at the door.
Who won the game? ¿Quién ganó el juego?
New sentence: Nobody won the game because each and every player was dead drunk.
Given:
Who won the game?
Translated:
¿Quién ganó el partido?
(singular completed action in the past)
New Sentence:
I walked in and saw that my sister was reading and my dad was eating.
Given: We planned to go to the party, but the car didn't start. Translation: Planeábamos ir a la fiesta, pero el coche no empezó. New: We decided it was a nice night for a walk.
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. or 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!! or Given: I was so tired?
Translated: ¿Estaba tan cansado?
New sentence: Who won the game?
Given: I also enjoyed complex sentences for the challenge.
Translated: También me gustó el desafío de oraciones complejas.
New Sentence: Did you see John today? He was wearing a really weird outfit.
deleted 
Given: I was eating lunch when the earthquake hit..
Almorzaba cuando el terremoto se desató..
While I was studying, the cats slept on the sofa.
