"Estaba visitando China" and "Visitaba China"
2
votes
son: ¿Cómo conociste a mamá?
father: Estaba visitando China y ella vivía allá.
May the father say: "Visitaba China y ella vivía allá."?
Would that be weired or inappropriate?
Do those two differ in meaning?
1988 views
updated Apr 22, 2011
posted by SoftStone
3 Answers
1
vote
Do those two differ in meaning?
Yes, they do. Estaba visitando = I was visiting (ongoing action). Visitaba = I visited (at some time in the past for some indefinite period).
updated Apr 22, 2011
posted by KevinB
4
votes
"Estaba visitando China y ella vivía allá" sounds better. The non-progressive version sounds a bit strange for this verb in this situation.
updated Apr 21, 2011
posted by lazarus1907
0
votes
Do those two differ in meaning?
That is still being debated by grammarians. There is some discussion here, as well as some references: link
updated Apr 21, 2011
posted by lorenzo9
