Imperfect verb form conjugation help

Question

Having trouble with the question - Model - Fill in the blanks with the imperfect forms of the indicated verbs De niño, yo hablaba (hablar) mucho con mis hermanos.

1. Antes, la familia Álvarez cenábamos (cenar) a las ocho de la noche.
2. De niña, yo cantaba (cantar) en el Coro de Niños de San Juan.
3. Cuando vivían en la costa, ustedes nadaban (nadar) por las mañanas.
4. Mis hermanas y yo jugaba (jugar) en un equipo de béisbol.
5. La novia de Raúl tenían (tener) el pelo rubio en ese tiempo.
6. Antes de tener la computadora, (tú) escribías (escribir) a mano (by hand). 7.(nosotros) creíamos (creer) que el concierto era el miércoles.
7. Mientras ellos lo buscaban (buscar) en su casa, él se fue a la universidad.

I got question 1, 4, & 5 in correct. I have tried the following: cenamos jugamos teniamos

Help???

Good job giving it your best try before asking. There are many who do not. - Beatrice-Codder, Apr 10, 2012

^agreed. - missy8888, Apr 10, 2012

I edited the title of your question to be more specific. - missy8888, Apr 10, 2012

Thank you. I appreciate that. - tlctvl, Apr 10, 2012

:) - missy8888, Apr 11, 2012

Answer 1

I remember my early days in Spanish when I would conjugate anything that looked plural with the nosotros form of the verb. I thought it sounded right, even though it was wrong.

Here´s what you have to do.

Look at each sentence and just find the subject. Who is doing the action?

Circle the subject.

Then, find that subject on a basic verb chart:

• Yo (first person singular)
• Nosotros (first person plural)
• Tú (second person singular)
• Vosotros (second person plural)
• Él/ella/Ud. (third person singular)
• Ellos/ellas/Uds. (third person plural)

Then conjugate the verb according to the location on the chart.

You will find "la familia" converts to somewhat of an equivalent to "ella" instead of "ellos" because it is one singular family (although it consists of many people). It is much like "la gente" which means people, but it is singular.

Good ideas, missy! - babs_irish, Apr 10, 2012

Do you teach (smile). Thank you for that. I am going to save the chart you built for future reference. - tlctvl, Apr 10, 2012

Haha no I am actually not a teacher! But I am glad my amateur attempts are being used as study materials! :) - missy8888, Apr 11, 2012

Answer 2

What you're having trouble with is matching the subject with the verb form. For example, in #1 the subject is "la familia Alvarez" (3rd person singular) but you've used the verb form for "we" (1st person plural). Use the conjugator here on SD and get the correct forms to use with the different subjects in your sentences.

Thank you for the advice. I didn't see that la familia alvarez was 3rd person. - tlctvl, Apr 10, 2012

Answer 3

Exactly as mentioned above. Find the subject and then figure it out. I think in this instance, it would benefit you to read it aloud in English. That would tell you if your choice agrees with the subject or not.