Which past tense?

Question

I want to say 'during the trip I listened to music and I chatted with my friends. The trip was very exciting'

Would you use the imperfect or the preterite tense for the verbs 'escuchar'('escuchaba' or 'escuché') and 'charlar' ('charlé' or 'charlaba')? Also is it correct to say 'El viaje fue muy interesante'?

Thanks, if there are any other solutions let me know

Answer 1

Hi, Chloe. I am a native English speaker, but I would use the preterit tense. Also, I think "El viaje fue..." is fine.

If you say "...escuchaba música y charlaba...", I think it builds up to something. For ex., "I was listening to music and chatting when..." Depending on context, it can also mean "I used to listen to music and chat." So, I would just use escuché y charlé.

Thanks :) - xxchloexx, Jan 26, 2012

i never thought of it that way... but now i see that you are right... the preterite would make more sense. - J850D, Jan 26, 2012

No hay de que ;) - Goldie_Miel, Jan 26, 2012

Answer 2

Unlike English (which has only one past tense) there are two simple past tenses in Spanish. Those two tenses are the preterite (el pretérito) and the imperfect (el imperfecto). Note that the difference is suggested by their names. The imperfect tense is "imperfect" in that it is incomplete or not taking place at a particular time. The preterite, on the other hand, generally refers to an action that took place at a particular time. Some illustrative examples:

• Ayer (a specific time) llovió (preterite). Yesterday it rained.

• Iba (imperfect, no definite time) a ir a la piscina, pero llovía (imperfect, no definite time, activity in progress). I was going to go to the pool, but it was raining.

• Cuando yo comía (imperfect, no specific time, action is incomplete), mi amigo me llamó (preterite, an incident that happened and was completed at a specific time) por teléfono. While I was eating, my friend called me on the phone.

• Cuando yo comía (imperfect, no specific time, action isn't completed), yo charlaba (imperfect, no specific end of action) a mis amigos. While I was eating I chatted with my friends.

• Cuando él hablaba (imperfect, no specific time, action in progress), tropezó (preterite, a completed action) con la alfombra. While he was talking he tripped on the carpet.

Hope this helps explain the difference. It's an early hurdle that English speakers learning Spanish encounter - practicing with native Spanish speakers really helps!