spanish help :)

Question

what is an example of a sentence in spanish using the imperfect used to state a specific time??

Welcome to the forum, marilowe96! Please add more inforrmation to your profile so that we can better know what kind of help you need! - rickharned, Feb 12, 2013

Answer 1

You can use the imperfect to describe a certain time, date or action. To state the action calls for the preterit, but that all depends on your view and what we are talking about.

Description of the day (imperfect):

Era un día muy extraño. Hacía frío y todos se quedaban en casa. Mi mama me preparaba el desayuno. Mi hermano todavía estaba durmiendo.

Action (preterit):

De repente, entró un ladrón. Nos dijo que no nos moviéramos. Nadie se atrevió a hablar.

Answer 2

It seems this question is being interpreted differently.

Sure, you can state the literal time and date by using the imperfect. This all goes into the description of a certain occurance or experience you had.

Era el 21 de diciembre. Estábamos en el sótano porque no sabíamos qué iba a pasar.

-In the first sentence, we are literally telling (describing) the actual date. The following sentences describe the situation of the day, information which cannot be left out or which cannot be expressed with the mindset of a single, immediate action. All of this takes the imperfect.

To state an action goes more with the preterit. Again, all depending on context.

Pero nada pasó.

Nothing ended up happening. Here we are stating an action, not describing it. If we were to describe what the scene was like when nothing happened, we'd use the imperfect.

Hope this can clear things up.

I think I understand the difference a lot better now when it comes to describing time, thanks :) - Manity, Feb 12, 2013

Answer 3

The imperfect does not state a specific time. Instead, it describes an habitual action of the past, something that has happened regularly or usually in the past.

I visited my grandmother every weekend when I lived near her. Yo visitaba mi abuela cada fin de semana cuando vivía a cerca de ella.

This sentence uses the imperfect because it happened over a period of time in the past. .

However, the preterit describes something in the past that happened at a specific time and was completed.

Comí a la restaurante ayer. I ate at the restaurant yesterday.

Answer 4

The Spanish Grammar section of this website on Imperfect Tense Forms and Uses is pretty clear:

1. Telling Time and Dates in the Past

•Eran las tres de la tarde. (It was three o´clock in the afternoon.)

•Era el jueves, el 9 mayo. (It was Thursday, the 19th of May.)

Answer 5

In lesson 2.10 there's the following statement: "Always use the imperfect when describing the date or time in the past." It seems that this time can be a specific time or date.

Some examples they give: "Eran las tres de la tarde durante el verano." or "Estábamos en el parque porque era el 4 de julio."

I'm actually not so much trying to answer the question (being just a beginner in Spanish myself) as adding to it. For all I know, the lesson might be wrong or this statement might only be true under certain circumstances.