Question

Decide whether the following sentences should be in the preterite or the imperfect

1.As a child, I used to play with blocks.
2.Last night, the firefighter put out the fire.
3. I went to my grandma's house every summer when I was younger.

Answer 1

The correct answers are:

1. Imperfect

2. Preterite

3. Imperfect

Step-by-step explanation:

1. Cuando era niña, solía jugar con bloques.

2. La noche pasada, el bombero apagó el fuego.

3. Cuando era más joven, iba a la casa de mi abuela cada verano.

In Spanish, we use Preterite (pretérito indefinido) to talk about completed actions in the past, which reveal to us the exact time of the action. We also use this tense to talk about actions that occurred during a specific period of time or to list various actions that occurred one after another.

e.g. Hace dos semanas salí con Juan y comimos en un restaurante fenomenal.

On the other hand, we use Imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) to describe different events, aspects, and characteristics or for actions that were repeated habitually in the past.

e.g. Cuando tenía 12 años, me gustaba ir de vacaciones con mis padres.