Question about preterit vs imperfect

Question

¡Hola todos!

En esta oración ¿porque es "tenía" correcto (y no tuvo)? Quería usar "tuvo" pero el libro de español que uso dice que "tenía" es correcto.

"Marco quería salir, pero no tenía dinero para el autobús."

¡Gracias!

Good question:) - FELIZ77, Jun 2, 2014

Please fill out your profile so that we may better help you , welcome to the forum Buena suerte . - ray76, Jun 2, 2014

Answer 1

It's a description in the past. Marco has seemingly got no money and has not had any money for an unspecified time. Poor Marco, I know the feeling!

If you say :'' Yesterday Marco didn't have as much as a penny'' you can use the preterite because we now have a distinct time and date for the lack of money. ( Ayer Marco no tuvo ni un centimo)

¡Ahhh...claro que sí! Muchas gracias :) - Motema15, Jun 1, 2014

De nada. Imperfect is also used a lot for background information, like painting the background in a picture, then the main happening comes in.. - annierats, Jun 2, 2014

Answer 2

Also, "querer" is one of the verbs that change meaning in the preterite.

Querer in preterite: To try, to want to do something and doing it.

Quiso vivir conmigo. He tried to live with me.

Querer in imperfect: To want to do something but not necessarily doing it. Quería vivir conmigo. He wanted to live with me.

You can find a post about verbs that change meaning in preterite and imperfect in my website (post dated: April 3, 2014) with examples of each one.

Hope this helps!

Thank you. I hadnot thought about it, but a good explanation. A background wanting, as opposed to having a go, more or less? - annierats, Jun 2, 2014

So, "quiso vivir conmigo" would mean "he wanted to live with me... And he did"? - Motema15, Jun 2, 2014

Motema, I would say Yes, based on what SpanshSkype has just said :) - FELIZ77, Jun 2, 2014

Yes, and if you stay "quería vivir conmigo" we don't know if he did or not. But I recommend you to read the post because there are another common verbs with different meaning (poder,saber,tener...even no querer has different rules - SpanishSkypeorg, Jun 2, 2014

Answer 3

Also, "querer" is one of the verbs that change meaning in the preterite.

Plenty of interesting discussions over that little nugget:

Verbs that change there meaning in the preterit

I tried not I wanted

querer in the preterit

Thanks for the links...very informative. - rac1, Jun 3, 2014

Answer 4

I agree with Annie:The imperfect is used for: a description of a mental , emotional or physical condition in the past

This sentence would cover the physical condition in the past: Marco had no money

I hope this helps