"I was doing something"

"I was doing something"
 

Hey guys,
If I wanted to say " I was watching tv, when my dog jumped" would you use the imperfect or the preterite, and is it the present progressive or is the whole thing just totally imperfect/past? I'm taking a guess as to how it's written:

I was watching tv when my dog jumped
yo estaba viendo la tele cuando mi perro saltó.

Thanks guys!

The pattern is correct - Imperfect tense for the ongoing action;
preterite for action of limited duration...

wafflestomp, another way to think about it is that the imperfect sets the background or scene and you use the preterite to talk about actions that take place within it. Also don't forget that while "yo estaba viendo" is what you're going to hear a lot when talking to people, you'll instead see "yo veía" in literature/writings. They both mean the same thing. :)

Hello,

In your example you used the preterite and the imperfect correctly. :) However, "I was doing something" can sometimes be translated by the preterite progressive.

For example,

-¿Qué hiciste ayer?
-Primero estuve viendo/mirando la tele. (from beginning to end. I turned off the TV and then I did my homework) y luego hice la tarea=First, I was watching/watched TV and then I did my homework.

Estaba viendo la tele. cuando el teléfono sonó=I was watching TV when the phone rang. (I didn't get a chance to turn off the TV because the phone rang; it interrupted the action of watching TV)

I hope this helps

Saludos

I hope this helps