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Help with Preterite/Imperfect

 

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Old October 23, 2011, 07:48 PM
AceTravis AceTravis is offline
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I'm having trouble grasping the difference between the preterite and imperfect. Can someone look at the paragraph I paste here and tell me what each number is, preterite or imperfect, and why?
  • Cuando era niña, siempre (1) (ir) a la escuela caminando, pero ese día (2) (ir) en autobús. Yo no (3) (ser) muy buena estudiante, pero me (4) (gustar) mucho ir a la escuela. Ahí, mis amigos y yo (5) (jugar) en nuestros ratos libres. Esa mañana, cuando yo (6) (llegar) al salón de clases, (7) (oír) al profesor y a mis compañeros hablando muy bajito (low). Todos (8) (estar) esperándome. Ellos me (9) (cantar) el Cumpleaños feliz y me (10) (dar) muchos regalos. ¡Fue un día inolvidable!
I could really use some help here.

Last edited by Rusty; October 23, 2011 at 08:25 PM. Reason: merged back-to-back posts
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  #2  
Old October 23, 2011, 08:25 PM
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Rusty Rusty is offline
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Welcome to the forums!

Please give this your best try first.

(If this is your homework, you should have selected the 'Practice & Homework' forum for posting. Let me know if you want the thread moved.)
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Old October 30, 2011, 11:08 AM
stesani stesani is offline
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In brief, preterit is used for past actions that have been completed while imperfect is used for past actions that were done in an indefinite amount of time or continuously.
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