Preterite + preterite sentence?

Question

So i am trying to translate this sentence to spanish: my husband bought me a dress, but i did not like it.

So my question is: should i use preterite for both verbs? Like: Mi esposo me compró un vestido, pero no me gustó.

Or should one of them be imperfect?

I would say that the first verb could be imperfect, as i see it as something happening for an undertermined time, but then again it could be preterite, as in he bought it and that was it. But i'm pretty confused.

But the other verb i'm pretty sure should be preterite, as it is the main action (i really hope...).

Any feedback will be gladly welcomed.

Answer 1

To add a little to what Daniela said to help understand the uses:

Compró- It's one and done, he bought it, it should be preterit, in the context given.

To make it imperfect:

Mi esposo me compraba vestidos, pero no tenía un buen sentido de la moda. My husband used to buy me dresses but he did not have good fashion sense. Here the action was repetitive. You could potentially uses solía comprar instead of compraba.

Mi esposo me compraba un vestido, pero le dije que no me gustó, así que no lo compró. My husband was buying me a dress, but I told him I didn't like it, so he didn't buy it. Here the action was not completed. You even have the option of estaba comprando in this sentence, as it you interrupted him in the midst of buying it to halt the action.

I would be interested in what Daniela thinks, but in your sentence if you use gustaba it sounds to me like you still have the dress and every time you see it those feelings of dislike come up again. The action of disliking it is not complete.

Good stuff an excellent explanation of both verbs, and why they should be preterite. And also good additional examples,this really helps me to understand the uses of two tenses. Thank you Bosque! - HombreDeRanas, Feb 22, 2017

Answer 2

Keep them both preterite. They are both actions, completed in the past.

I was mostly through my overly complex answer when I saw yours, but didn't want to waste the effort, and still wanted to post it for thoughts on my ideas. :) - bosquederoble, Feb 22, 2017