Correct use of tuvo or tenía?
1
vote
Era futbolista estupendo, pero un día tuvo un accidente. or should I use tenía? I am not entirely sure.
3519 views
updated Jan 24, 2011
posted by alanreen
4 Answers
1
vote
To Lorenzo's question:
El tanquero derramaba petróleo dos semanas seguidas después del accidente que tuvo el 8 de mayo.
The accident is expressed in the simple past and the actual spill in the imperfect.
I hope this helps.
updated Jan 24, 2011
posted by gone
Gracias! - lorenzo9, Jan 24, 2011
0
votes
OK, I have a serious question here: what if the thing having an accident is an oiltanker and it spills out oil for a week or two (there was a spill here a couple weeks ago.)
updated Jan 24, 2011
posted by lorenzo9
0
votes
How often did he have an accident that day?
During the act of the accident, is there something that happened that you want to mention?
updated Jan 24, 2011
edited by lorenzo9
posted by lorenzo9
Even if he had 3 accidents that very day, you would still use tuvo. However, you could say: tenía la tendencia a accidentarse if he was prone to having accidents. Hope this helps. - gone, Jan 24, 2011
That's right: even if he had 1000 accidents that day, you would still use "tuvo". - lazarus1907, Jan 24, 2011
0
votes
Tuvo is correct. The accident is an interruption in your story, therefore you use the preterite tense.
updated Jan 24, 2011
posted by S1r_Wakka
