explanation of "Venía"
In the song De Momento Abril on LOMASTV, there is a sentence that reads as follows: "Esta Mañana escuché en el jardín de tu casa una canción que decía algo parecido a Lo que venía pensando mientras tú leías un libro." The last part of the sentence, " a lo que venía penasndo mientras tú libro" is translated as "To what I WAS thinking. . .". I don't understand why "venía" would translate as "I was". I would have thought of using "fue" , the preterite of "ser".
I would appreciate any insight someone can give. Thanks, Jim
5 Answers
When you think about it, there are a lot of words that are used in place of estar.. They add a nice flavor to the language. I think of:
Ando trabajando en mi bici - I am working on my bike.
La frase viene en la primera pagina. - The sentence is on the first page.
Queda por aquí. - It's near here.
And then, a little removed from just replacing "to be:
Tengo hambre. I am hungry.
No tardes mucho. - Don't be late.
Etc
When "venir" is used with a gerund (e.g., pensando), it is used as an auxiliary verb to indicate that someone is in the process of doing something.
It could just as easily have said "lo que estaba pensando".
The use of verbs of motion to replace "to be" in the progressive tense is common in English as well: "I went walking down the street" instead of "I was walking down the street".
Mientras leías el libro, venía pensando (estaba pensando...)
venía = came
