Imperfect vs Preterit in the sentence
2
votes
I want to say "He died in 1895 in Cuba while he participated in a battle against the Spanish army." According to my textbook, two actions that take place at the same time should be expressed in the imperfect but I'm not sure if it is right to say "Moría en 1895 en Cuba mientras participaba en una batalla contra el ejército español." Thoughts?
940 views
updated Oct 2, 2013
edited by ecb1098
posted by ecb1098
Good question, but, see below. - rogspax, Oct 1, 2013
1 Answer
1
vote
Falleció en 1895 en Cuba mientras participaba en una batalla contra el ejército español.
The action that was taking place is in the imperfect and the interrupting action is in the preterite.
I like fallecer better than morir. Probably just personal preference but I think it sounds better.
updated Oct 2, 2013
posted by gringojrf
Good answer. Agreed, I don´t look at this as two actions taking place at the same time (both imperfect) but rather one (dying, preterite) interrupting another (participating, imperfect) - rogspax, Oct 1, 2013
yeah dying kind of interrupts everything! - gringojrf, Oct 2, 2013
