Uses of the Imperfect

Question

Hi everyone! For Spanish homework today, we had a workbook page where we had to choose the correct use of the imperfect in each given sentence. The choices are:

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ul>A. ongoing past action

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ul>B. habitual/ repeated action

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ul>C. long standing situation

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ul>D. Physical, mental, emotional characteristic or condition in the past

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ul>E. Describe or provide background information about the past

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ul>F. Indicate past intentions.

Most of the questions were very easy and very obvious, but I got stuck on this one:

Visitábamos a mis primos.

Now when I first read this sentence, I translated it as "We used to visit my cousins.", meaning the answer would be B (I think) But then I thought about it and couldn't it also be translated "We were visiting my cousins", so the answer would be A. Can someone explain which translation/answer is right?

I hope the teacher gives credit for more than one right answer, here! - NancyGrace, Jan 26, 2011

Answer 1

ok.. "Visitábamos" is in past. So, could be E.
For example... Cuando era niño, visitabamos a mis primos en su casa. ¨ " in the past, when i was a little boy, we visited my cousins in his house"

Answer 2

I think that you are right, A and B could be correct, really it is the next part of the sentence that would let you know which possibility would be correct.