To take place (past tense)

Question

In the sentence, "The game took place outside" should I use tenia lugar afuera, or tuvo lugar afuera?

Welcome to SpanishDict. Which one do you think it is? You must make an attempt. - rac1, Sep 21, 2015

I would guess Tenia lugar afuera because its taking place is a continuous action, so its imperfect. - alexwinn98, Sep 21, 2015

They both can be used, in different contexts, see my answer. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 21, 2015

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Sep 22, 2015

Answer 1

In the sentence, "The game took place outside" should I use tenia lugar afuera, or tuvo lugar afuera?

My opinion-

If the game is over, and that is the principle information you are trying to convey- el partido tuvo lugar afuera. That matches the simple past in your English. Took place.

If this is background information setting the scene for something else- tenia lugar afuera.

For example: El partido tenía lugar afuera cuando, de repente, algo sucedió.

The game was taking place outside, when suddenly something happened. Note I said was taking place outside instead of took place. Here the principle information is what happened (in the preterit), that the game was taking place when it happened is just background information to set the scene.

That makes sense. Thank you! - alexwinn98, Sep 21, 2015

Nice explanation - 005faa61, Sep 21, 2015

Gracias, Julian, y de nada, Alex. :) - bosquederoble, Sep 21, 2015