Imperfect or Preterite. Cant it be both?
I am having trouble deciding if an action is seen as "completed" or not.. One sentence of the homework says "No vi a una chica que caminaba en mi dirrecion, y los dos nos caimos al suelo". I understand that the girl walking in his direction "was walking" and therefore the action was incomplete. But I originally translated the sentence to "I did not see the girl that walked(instead of that was walking) in my direction, and the two of us fell to the ground." that walked is seen as complete. Another example could be, "Juan habló con la estudiante(juan spoke with the student), or Juan hablaba con la estudiante(Juan was speaking with the student). How would i know BEFORE conjugating the verbs that that action was complete or not, when it seems as though it could be either one?
4 Answers
From what I know, the imperfect and preterit can be used in the same sentence because the imperfect sets the scene, and the preterit describes the complete action that occurred.
In your example, "Juan was speaking with the student" sets the scene, because something else could follow on.
"Juan was speaking with the student, when the headmaster entered" for example.
It's imperfect because it's a progressive action in the past.
Imperfect - Actions in progress in the past (was/were + -ing); repeated actions in the past (used to + verb); descriptions in the past (before vs now); time, weather, age, emotions.
Preterit - Finished actions in the past; instantaneous actions in the past; narrating stories.
I hope this helps!
Another example could be, "Juan habló con la estudiante(juan spoke with the student), or Juan hablaba con la estudiante(Juan was speaking with the student).
Well, it depends on what you mean to say.
he spoke to the students last night.
he was speaking to the students when the headmaster came in.
If nothing follows that, in either language, you would chose past simple,
How would i know BEFORE conjugating the verbs that that action was complete or not, when it seems as though it could be either one?
I'm not sure I understand this part of the question. What do you mean before conjugating the verb? The conjugation is dependent on what you wish to express, in terms of the person (1s, 2nd, 3rd), number (plural, singluar), and time when the action takes places. You have to know. Do you mean this person walked, or do you mean this person was walking?
No, it can't be both. It is one or the other.
