Past Tense of "Dormir"

Question

I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around whether the preterite or imperfect tense of dormir in this sentence would fit better: Esa noche los chicos dormían/durmieron pensando en todos los regalos que iban a recibir.

I would also eternally appreciate an explanation for whichever side :). Thank you - DavidRyan, Sep 5, 2011

Answer 1

I would say both could be used equally, and that more context would be needed. To me the difference would be something like this: "Esa noche los chicos dormían pensando en..." - "That night the boys were sleeping thinking aboout..." and then something else possibly happened to interrupt their sleep, for example: "y de repente la ladrona entró en su habitación y blah, blah, blah". More used as background info. While "Esa noche los chicos durmieron pensando en.." - would be like "That night the boys slept thinking about..."- something you would use as a summary or reaction statement to a specific night.

Answer 2

It is for the one night, so it is one cycle of sleep. I would say use the Preterit.

Imperfect would be more along the lines of "my kid used to wet his bed in his sleep." Though there may be a different colonialism describing sleep when someone wets the bed, is that kind of concept that you would use the imperfect conjugation of dormir.

Answer 3

durmieron

Answer 4

I would agree that the preterite would be the best choice

This may help - Study Spanish.com

Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed. Use of the preterite tense implies that the past action had a definite beginning and definite end.

Juan habló de la una hasta las dos. Juan spoke from one until two o'clock. (clearly stated beginning and end)

Hehe, why do we English speakers always think the "imperfect" stands for anything that lasts longer than a millisecond? - Fredbong, Sep 5, 2011