Tener - had / received

Question

I apologize for making a new post on preterite/imperfect, but I'm struggling with a few concepts and cannot find the answers in previous forums.

First, I understand some verbs change their meaning in the preterite tense. This is what was listed in the Verbs Resource section:

                 **present             preterit**  
    conocer        to know              to meet  
    poder          to be able to        to manage 
    querer         to want              to refuse/to try  
    saber          to know              to find out  
   *tener          to have              to receive*

I am mostly concerned with "tener." In the preterite, I believe it can be translated as "to receive, to get, to begin to have." For example:

Tuve un regalo. I received a gift.

Tuvo miedo. He got (or suddenly became) scared.

Tuvieron mucha tarea. They had (although not typical) a lot of homework.

So I understand this, but I'm pretty sure a native speaker would not say "Tenía un buen día," but rather, "Tuve un buen día." My thought is that since we are talking about an enclosed amount of time (el día), it become preterit. But then what about something like "Tenía un gato" vs "Tuvo un gato." ? Is that (the preterit) really how you would express, "I got a cat" or does that mean "I had a cat (and I don't anymore...)?

I'm also struggling with sentences like....

"El concierto ______ (ser) fantástico."

"El estudiante no _________ (estar) en clase.. hoy / ayer / la semana pasada."

"Cuando ________ (estar) en la universidad, estudiaba ingles."

"El todavía no ___________ (estar) en casa a las diez."

Any translations with explanations / other examples would be useful! Thanks.

Answer 1

Well, I see that you posted your question 8 hours ago and are waiting for some reply. I will try to honor your question and hopefully someone else will come along and add to my comments.

You clearly have a good base understanding of the preterite vs. the imperfect.

Truly, this fill-in-the blank business can be a challenge because some of the responses can vary depending on the speaker's point of view.

I apologize if this is too much of a review for you, but the preterite tells you "what happened". It refers to something that is over and done with. It can be a single action that took place in one second or something that occurred over a long period of time; if it's viewed as being over and done with it is expressed in the preterite.

For example "Tuve un gato" vs.."Tenía un gato¨. In the first sentence the cat-owning is over and done with; it is viewed as a completed action, the speaker intends to tell you what happened. In the second sentence the feeling is one of "I used to have a cat."

"El concierto fue fantástico" - You are not saying that the concert used to be fantastic or was always fantastic, but rather you are telling what happened. Maybe think of it in terms of: you went to the concert, the concert was fantastic, and then you drove home.

"El no estuvo/estaba en clase..." "No estuvo" - he did not arrive, he did not get there. "No estaba" he was not there (when I arrived, when the instructor returned the exams, when the bell rang).

The rub with the fill-in-the-blanks is that you have no context. Many Spanish language instructors provide some context for the students to make it clearer. Otherwise it can turn into a bit of a guessing game.

I suspect that I have not done an adequate job with your question, and I apologize for that. However, maybe it has helped a bit.

I think you did a **great** job, MountainGirl. I suspect the question was left unanswered because no one could give a better answer than you did! - territurtle, Nov 14, 2011

Answer 2

Thank you, mountaingirl, that was very helpful.

Input from others would be appreciated as well!

Answer 3

Opening this up again, still have some questions!

"El concierto fue fantástico" - You are not saying that the concert used to be fantastic or was always fantastic, but rather you are telling what happened. Maybe think of it in terms of: you went to the concert, the concert was fantastic, and then you drove home.

What about the "rule" of using imperfect with descriptions? You are describing how the concert was...

A few more examples... I feel like I somewhat understand, I just don't know how to explain the difference to my students.

I had a good weekend. (tuve / tenía)?

The vacation was nice (fue / era)?

The homework was difficult yesterday (era / fue)?

We had a good time (tuvimos / teníamos)?

I think what I'm struggling with is description of a completed action... ? Any and all explanations will help! Gracias!