Indefinido vs. Imperfecto II

Fui a casa porque era tarde

In short:

When two or more actions are related to each other in duration, Indefinido is used for instant actions, and Imperfecto is used for long actions.

In this lesson we are going to explore yet another situation in which Indefinido and Imperfecto differ. It’s a separate case, that has little to do with what you already know about the two past tenses.

If you look closely at the examples in the previous lesson, you will notice, that all actions were individual and independent. There were no actions that depended on each other.

Paco vivió 4 años en Argentina

Estuve en Tenerife dos veces

Cada semana íbamos al lago

However, making a narration about past events, very often we need to distinguish actions by their duration. To be exact, we need to specify, that one action happened instantly, and another one lasted for some time. In these circumstances, everything changes. Indefinido lets express instant actions, and Indefinido expresses longer processes.

Cuando yo leía, se fue la luz – When I was reading, the light went out

Cuando paseábamos, vimos a Ricardo – When we were walking, we saw Ricardo

In English this is done by using Past Continuous vs. Past Simple. In Spanish continuous tenses exist as well, but there is no need to apply them. Imperfecto vs. Indefinido is enough.

Try it yourself:

When I was sleeping, you washed the plates

They lost the ball, when they were playing

Now the rules of Indefinido and Imperfecto, that you learned in the previous lesson, don’t work. You may forget about the time markers, just try to figure out, whether the action was brief or long.

In the real physical world, though, there are no instant actions. Even shutting a door or seeing a friend in the street last for some time. In the language world it’s different. When we talk about events in the past, we take short actions as instant, as if something happened at once, making a contrast to some lasting events that were happening in the background.

There can be only three combinations of instant / lasting actions.

1. Parallel lasting actions

Imperfecto + Imperfecto

It’s about two or more long actions, which were happening at the same time.

Cuando yo veía la tele, mi mamá preparaba la cena — When I was watching TV, my mom was cooking dinner

Alba miraba por la ventana y pensaba en la vida — Alba was looking out of the window and was thinking about life

Try it yourself:

When we were swimming, our parents were sunbathing

You knew Spanish, because you lived in Spain

2. Lasting vs. instant action

Imperfecto + Indefinido

It’s about a brief action that happened at once, while another long action was happening in the background.

Cuando cenábamos, entró el abuelo — When we were having dinner, grandfather came in

Salimos de casa, porque hacía buen tiempo — We went out, because the weather was good

Try it yourself:

When I was in the metro, Luis called me

We went away, because there were many people there

3. Sequence of instant actions

Indefinido + Indefinido

It’s about actions that happened at once one after another.

Cuando Carlos salió de casa, vio a su vecino — When Carlos went out, he saw his neighbour

Encontré un buen trabajo y por eso compré un coche caro — I found a good job, that’s why I bought an expensive car

Try it yourself:

Susana came home and lay down on the bed

When the convert ended, everyone went to the restaurant

Examples with explanation

Let’s take a look at some common examples and explain, why Indefinido or Imperfecto are chosen.

Mientras Paco leía un libro, Natalia estudiaba español — While Paco was reading a book, Natalia was learning Spanish (two parallel actions)

Cuando dormíamos, sonó el teléfono — When we were sleeping, the phone rang (an instant action happened during a long one)

Cuando Carlos salió de casa, empezó a llover — When Carlos went out, it started to rain (two instant actions happened one after the other)

Nosotros jugábamos al voleibol y las chicas tomaban refrescos — We were playing volleyball, and the girls were drinking soft drinks (two parallel actions)

Cuando jugábamos al voleibol, la pelota se cayó al agua — When we were playing volleyball, the ball fell into the water (during a lasting action, an instant action happened)

Me enamoré de Claudia, porque era muy bonita — I fell in love with Claudia, because she was very beautiful (fell in love instantly, and she was beautiful in general)

Te amaba, porque eras muy cariñosa — I loved you, because you were very caring (two long-lasting processes)

No pude llamarte, porque estaba ocupado — I couldn’t call you, because I was busy (couldn’t call at one moment, but was busy during some time)

Yo compré una blusa y me dieron una tarjeta de descuentos — I bought a blouse, and they gave me a discount card (two brief action, that happened sequentially)

Juan no fue a trabajar porque se sentía mal — Juan didn’t go to work, because he was feeling bad (didn’t go at a particular moment, but was feeling bad during some period of time)

As you can see, Imperfecto isn’t always equal to the English Past Continuous tense. You should split actions into short and long, based on the logic, but not on the translation from English.

Try it yourself:

I couldn’t buy a new phone, because I didn’t have enough money

Laura said that she lived in Portugal

The children were hungry, and they ate two pizzas

When my grandparents worked, they knew many people from the Government

We put on jackets, because it was cold

For some situations both Indefinido and Imperfecto can be convenient.

a.

No pude comprar un teléfono, porque no tenía dinero (I couldn’t by at a particular moment)

No podía comprar un teléfono, porque no tenía dinero (I couldn’t buy in general)

b.

Cuando mis abuelos trabajaban, conocieron a mucha gente (met many people once)

Cuando mis abuelos trabajaban, conocían a mucha gente (knew many people in general)

So, depending on the context, it’s up to you which tense to use. If you use Imperfecto, the listener will understand it as a long action. If you use Indefinido, the listener will take it as something that was done instantly.

Related actions in separate sentences

In a real-life conversation and in texts related actions can appear in separate sentences.

For example, this sentence can be easily split into two sentences.

Salimos de casa, porque hacía buen tiempo — We went out, because the weather was good

Salimos de casa. Hacía buen tiempo – We went out. The weather was good

It’s not the sentence that makes two actions to be related to each other, it’s the context. If you put a period instead of a comma, the meaning won’t be affected.

Cuando paseábamos por el parque, Juan me contó un secreto — When Juan and I were walking in the park, he told me a secret

Juan y yo paseábamos por el parque. Me contó un secreto — Juan and I were walking in the park. He told me a secret

This is how narration using past tenses is accomplished. When we tell stories, we always distribute actions among different sentences, but they remain related to each other, anyway.

a.

Eran las nueve de la noche. Yo esperaba a Marta. La llamé, pero ella no contestó. Me puse un poco nervioso. Más tarde ella me llamó y dijo que dormía.

It was nine in the evening. I was waiting for Marta. I called her, but she didn’t answer. I got a bit nervous. Later, she called me and said that she was sleeping.

b.

Mi novia estaba en la tienda. Yo trabajaba en casa. La puerta estaba abierta. Entró el vecino y me asustó.

My girlfriend was in the shop. I was working at home. The door was open. The neighbour came in and scared me.

Recap

Using Indefinido for instant actions, and Imperfecto for long actions makes sense only, when these actions are related in meaning. If they are independent, see the previous lesson.