"Venía agarrando" vs "Agarraba"

Question

Hello! Reffering to my previous post: I'd like to know if there is any difference between:

"Venía agarrando" and "Agarraba"

Thanks

Instead of opening a new thread about the same thing, just post a question on the thread that's already open. - rac1, Aug 14, 2016

Answer 1

Venía agarrando emphasizes the action at a moment. It does not apply to habitual action or action over an extended period, like Agarraba.

Answer 2

The Spanish past continuous works in the same fashion like in English.

1. venía agarrando describes a background scene in the past, a longer action, or just used to talk about the continuity of the action in the past.
2. agarraba, as jtaniel explained before, it's considered as a repeated action in the past.
3. A common misconception is to use the imperfect preterite like the English past continuous. Namely,
   • I was walking. (= caminaba)