Question about using Imperfect usage in this sentence. (Llevaba)

Question

I was looking up examples of estallar. I found this example.

El camarero se tropezó y los vasos que llevaba estallaron en mil pedazos.

Can this sentence be constructed this way

El camarero se tropezó y los vasos que (estaba llevando) estallaron en mil pedazos.

If yes, Is there any subtle differences ? and which one do you prefer ?

Thanks for reading and your help

I have my opinion, but I want to see what a native speaker says. :) - bosquederoble, Feb 21, 2017

I'm interested in your opinion Bosque :) - jellonz, Feb 21, 2017

Answer 1

I'm interested in your opinion Bosque

Now that we have some answers from native speakers I will put down what I would have said:

Both are usable

Both provide similar information

Estabal llevando emphasizes that he was in the act of carrying them, llevaba more sets that he was carrying them as a background to the act of tripping them and breaking them.

To me without other context to give reason to emphasize the act of carrying them- that he was in the midst of carrying them when it happene- it seems that is more the background of the sentence, just matter of fact that he was carrying them, so I prefer llevaba for that sentence. Very subtle and hard to explain.

Here is a sentence I wrote about a week ago:

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/288792/la-palabra-del-da-hondamente

Él creía hondamente que va a descubrir las ruinas de una civilización antigua en el hondo del mar cerca de Honduras, pero sus colegas creían que simplemente se estaba metiendo en honduras.

He deeply believed that he was going to discover the ruins of an ancient civilization in the depths of the ocean near Honduras, but his colleagues believed that he was simply out of his depth.

I put creía and creían in imperfect, but used the past progressive for se estaba metiendo because I wanted to emphasize that that was the activity he was in the midst of, the believing was just background.

Of course I am not native, so the sense it gives a native speaker is more important than what I think, but that is how I think of it.

I agree - 000a35ff, Feb 21, 2017

Thank you Astotxua. :) - bosquederoble, Feb 21, 2017

Gracias Bosque. So in my (perhaps incorrectly) restructured versions the same would still remain true, and the "llevaba" version would still be preferable because his carrying the glasses is still setting the scene for the tripping and breaking? - jellonz, Feb 21, 2017

Yes, for me. :) - bosquederoble, Feb 21, 2017

Thanks Bosque. - jellonz, Feb 21, 2017

now suppose I said, he got the glasses off the table and was going to carry them to the sink and wash them and put them away, but while in the midst of carrying them ...- There it might make sense to use estaba llevando to emphasize that he was (in the mi - bosquederoble, Feb 22, 2017

..in the midst of carrying them. There you have a context to bring that forward. :) - bosquederoble, Feb 22, 2017

Answer 2

Both sentences are perfect in Spanish, If you can use "Llevaba" it means that you have come a long way in terms of verb conjugation. On the other hand, If you still have some issues with verb conjugation, you can always use "estaba llevando" because both mean exactly the same.

Thanks for answering. My conjugation is pretty fluent. I also wanted to know when you may use one over the other. The timeframe example below is helpful. - bkzingh, Feb 21, 2017

Answer 3

You can say estaba llevando if you want, but the nuance is more of at the moment than llevaba, which sets the background for a past action that starts and finishes in that time frame of the imperfect verb.

The difference is minimal, however, llevaba sounds more natural in this case and some argue that estaba llevando sounds anglosized.

Thanks for answering. I like the timeframe explanation. I will use both for the time being until these subtle variations can be easily be perceived my nascent Spanish brain. - bkzingh, Feb 21, 2017

Answer 4

Gracias Julian, DocSpanish, and Bosque.

Out of interest, would the same remain true if the sentence were restructured?

El camarero estaba llevando los vasos cuando se tropezó y estallaron en mil pedazos.

Versus.

El camarero llevaba los vasos cuando se tropezó y estallaron en mil pedazos.

Hi Jellonz, I am not expert in spanish that's why i am asking this question here. But when i read your sentence I imagine the camarero tripping and breaking into thousand pieces for some reason. - bkzingh, Feb 21, 2017

Yep, I'm unsure if switching subjects like this is as common in Spanish as it is in English, but I thought the conjugation of "estallar" should be sufficient without having to restate "los vasos" in the final clause. Native input would be appreciated :) - jellonz, Feb 21, 2017