Imperfect or preterite tense

Question

Hi, I am trying to say I did lots of things to overcome the challenges I had during the semester but don't know whether to say:

Hice muchas cosas para superar los desafíos que tuve durante el semestre

OR Hacía muchas cosas para superar los desafíos que tuve durante el semestre

Could anyone help or explain how to know which sentence is correct? ¡Muchas gracias!

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Dec 5, 2016

Answer 1

The choice depends entirely on the context. In this case, the semester is over, and for completed actions in the past, it's better to use the preterite.

Now the same problem happens by using tuve, then why not tenía.

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We tend to use the imperfect form if we mean doing an action for a period of time. (Namely, because your focus is on the continuity of the action.)
As for particular actions in the past, use the simple form.

I have to say, though, this is very difficult for non-native speakers to understand because the difference is not always clear-cut and most of the utterances will have to be learnt as a part of phrases.

Thanks for the reply! It is a bit confusing but that helps so thanks - J1101, Dec 5, 2016