| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| El perro siempre (pause with a tap of the finger) junto a la puerta. |
| El perro siempre (pause with a tap of the finger) junto a la puerta. |
| estaba |
| estaba |
| El perro siempre estaba junto a la puerta. |
| El perro siempre estaba junto a la puerta. |
| "The dog was always next to the door." |
| We use estaba in this sentence because it's the third-person singular form of the verb estar in the imperfect tense. |
| "Estabas means 'you were' (informal), and estaban means 'they were'—but the subject here is el perro (the dog), which is third-person singular." |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| Tenía |
| Tenía |
| Tenía una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| Tenía una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| "I had a red bicycle when I was little." |
| We use tenía here because it's the first-person singular (yo) form of tener in the imperfect tense. |
| It shows something the speaker used to have. |
| Tenías means "you had", and Teníais is a form used in Spain for "you all" — neither fits the subject. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Mis amigos y yo (pause with a tap of the finger) vecinos. |
| Mis amigos y yo (pause with a tap of the finger) vecinos. |
| éramos |
| éramos |
| Mis amigos y yo éramos vecinos. |
| Mis amigos y yo éramos vecinos. |
| "My friends and I were neighbors." |
| We use éramos because it's the first-person plural (nosotros) form of ser in the imperfect tense. |
| It describes who we were in the past. |
| Eráis is for vosotros (you all) in Spain, and eran is for they — so those don't match the subject. |
| Unscramble the words to make a sentence. |
| Ready? |
| El |
| El salón |
| El salón estaba |
| El salón estaba limpio |
| El salón estaba limpio todos |
| El salón estaba limpio todos los |
| El salón estaba limpio todos los días. |
| "The living room was clean every day." |
| El salón estaba limpio todos los días. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Mi hermana (tenían or tenía) miedo de la oscuridad. |
| Mi hermana (tenían or tenía) miedo de la oscuridad. |
| tenía |
| tenía |
| Mi hermana tenía miedo de la oscuridad. |
| "My sister was afraid of the dark." |
| Tenía is used here because it's the third-person singular form of tener in the imperfect tense. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Ellos (tenían or tenías) muchos libros en casa. |
| Ellos (tenían or tenías) muchos libros en casa. |
| tenían |
| tenían |
| Ellos tenían muchos libros en casa. |
| "They had many books at home." |
| Tenían is correct because it's the third-person plural form of tener in the imperfect tense. |
| It expresses a repeated or continuous possession in the past. |
| Tenías is second-person singular and does not agree with the subject ellos. |
| Let's translate some sentences into Spanish. |
| Translate "When I was a child, my grandmother was very kind." into Spanish. |
| Cuando, "when," |
| followed by |
| era, "I was," the imperfect of ser, used to describe past identity or state, |
| next |
| niña, "a girl" or "child," |
| followed by |
| mi, "my," the possessive adjective, |
| next |
| abuela, "grandmother," |
| followed by |
| era, "was," the imperfect of ser, describing her past personality, |
| next |
| muy amable, "very kind," an adjective phrase describing character. |
| Era is used here because the verb ser in the imperfect tense expresses how someone was over a period of time — in this case, the personality of the grandmother. |
| Cuando era niña, mi abuela era muy amable. |
| Cuando era niña, mi abuela era muy amable. |
| "When I was a child, my grandmother was very kind." |
| Translate "I was tired after school." into Spanish. |
| Estaba, "I was," the imperfect of estar, used to describe physical or emotional condition, |
| followed by |
| cansado, "tired," an adjective describing the speaker's physical state, |
| next |
| después, "after," |
| followed by |
| de, "of" or "from," part of the phrase "after school," |
| next |
| la escuela, "the school," a feminine singular noun referring to a place. |
| Estaba is used here because the verb estar in the imperfect tense expresses a temporary state — in this case, how someone felt after school on a repeated or habitual basis. |
| Estaba cansado después de la escuela. |
| Estaba cansado después de la escuela. |
| "I was tired after school." |
| Translate "When we lived in Guadalajara, the weather was very nice." into Spanish. |
| Cuando, "when," |
| followed by |
| vivíamos, "we lived," the imperfect of vivir, describing a past habitual action, |
| next |
| en Guadalajara, "in Guadalajara," |
| followed by |
| el, "the," masculine singular definite article, |
| next |
| clima, "weather," masculine noun, |
| followed by |
| era, "was," the imperfect of ser, describing a condition in the past, |
| next |
| muy agradable, "very nice," an adjective phrase describing the weather. |
| Era is used here because ser in the imperfect tense expresses a general state or condition that existed over time — in this case, how the weather regularly was. |
| Cuando vivíamos en Guadalajara, el clima era muy agradable. |
| Cuando vivíamos en Guadalajara, el clima era muy agradable. |
| "When we lived in Guadalajara, the weather was very nice." |
| Listen to me as I speak. Which [grammar point] is used in the sentences? |
| Tenía una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| Tenía una bicicleta roja cuando era pequeño. |
| Did you hear tenía and era? |
| Tenía means "I had." |
| It's the first-person singular form of tener in the imperfect. |
| We use it to talk about something the speaker used to own — a red bicycle. |
| Era means "I was." |
| It's the first-person singular form of ser in the imperfect. |
| Here, it describes the speaker's past identity or state, being small or young. |
| Both verbs are in the imperfect tense, and both refer to ongoing or repeated conditions in the past. |
| How about...? |
| El salón estaba limpio todos los días. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| El salón estaba limpio todos los días. |
| Did you hear estaba? |
| Estaba means "was." |
| It's the third-person singular form of estar in the imperfect tense. |
| It tells us about a repeated condition — in this case, the state of the living room. |
| Next… |
| Ellos tenían muchos libros en casa. |
| One more time. |
| Ellos tenían muchos libros en casa. |
| Did you hear tenían? |
| Tenían means "they had." |
| It's the third-person plural form of tener in the imperfect tense. |
| It describes repeated possession belonging to multiple people. |
| And... |
| Cuando era niña, mi abuela era muy amable. |
| One more time. |
| Cuando era niña, mi abuela era muy amable. |
| Did you hear era? |
| Era means "was." |
| It's the third-person singular form of ser in the imperfect tense. |
| It describes the personality or identity of the grandmother in the past. |
| Thank you for watching. |
| Now you know how to talk about what someone or something was like in the past in Spanish. |
| ...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway. |
| Nos vemos. |
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