Visitar - Preterite or Imperfect
Talking about visiting a place in the past e.g
- era la segunda vez que visitaba Espana Or, 2. era la segunda vez que visité Espana
6 Answers
Fue la segunda vez que visité España.
Both could work but I agree with Julian that if that's all there is to your sentence they should both be in the preterite tense which is perfect for looking at past events as completed events.
As a general rule when you are just stating how many times you did something you use the preterite.
If you used the imperfect it sounds like you are yet to add something:
It was the second time that we were visiting Spain, I was very excited to be there again.
The imperfect takes the hearer/listener back with you into the past to experience the past events as they were happening. Here you're not just stating how many times you did something you are setting the scene and inviting your listener to imagine being there with you. Imagine a story teller in his arm chair surrounded by children ready to listen to a story. We often use 'was' and 'were' plus an -ing word to accomplish this in English. It was a dark, stormy night, .the children were lying in their beds when all of a sudden ....
I hope that helps somewhat.
If you have to choose one of those two, then must be number 1; the whole sentence in imperfect.
You should use it in the context of telling a story, for example.
Ok thank you, I was talking about a past holiday in Valencia and trying to refer to the fact that it was the 2nd time I had been to Spain but this was the first time I had been to Valencia
Hay dos opciones posibles:
a) Era la segunda vez que visitaba España.
o bien
b) Fue la segunda vez que visité España.
Advanced speakers (better than me) have given you opposing, but very good answers, but to know for sure, you need the context, as both are possible, just as Luis provides.
I tend to lean towards Julian´s answer, but for instance, there are times when one could be talking about being there over a period during their second trip, when some event occurred. If setting the background or timeframe that way, there might be times when the imperfect could validly be used to set the scenario.
I think which one of those two answers you´ll receive from a native, would depend on which context they assumed, or first had occur to them. There are sometimes clear choices for the preterite vs imperfect, but there are some gray areas where either might be valid.
When in doubt, listen to a native, and provide them as much context as you can.
