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Exercises
Regular and irregular verbs. Complete the gaps using the imperfect of the verbs in brackets.
- Cuando era pequeña me (encantar) ir a patinar.-ar verb|3rd person singular: -abaWhen I was a child, I used to love going ice-skating.
- ¿(Estudiar/tú) al mismo tiempo que (trabajar) ?-ar verbs|2nd person singular: -abasWere you studying and working at the same time?
- Siempre nos acordamos de cuando (ir) de excursión a Sierra Nevada.irregular verb|1st person plural: íbamosWe always remember the time we took a trip to the Sierra Nevada.
- Antes nunca (tener/vosotros) tiempo libre.-er verb|2nd person plural: -íaisBefore, you never used to have any free time.
- Mi hermana pequeña (ser) la nieta favorita de mi abuela.irregular verb|3rd person singular: eraMy little sister was my grandmother’s favourite grandchild.
Regular and irregular verbs. Complete the sentences using the preterite of the verbs in brackets.
- Nuria y Marcos (pedir) un préstamo para comprar la casa.-ir verb with a spelling change in the stem of the 3rd person singular and plural: e → i|3rd person plural → -ieronNuria and Marcos have applied for a loan to buy a house.
- El otro día Guillermo y yo (ir) al cine del barrio.irregular verb|1st person plural: fuimosThe other day, Guillermo and I went to the local cinema.
- Ayer (llover) tanto que (inundarse) el garaje.1. -er verb|3rd person singular: -ió|2. reflexive -ar verb|3rd person singular: -ó|the reflexive pronoun se comes before the verbYesterday it rained so much that the garage flooded.
- Mi vecino (comprarse) su televisión nueva en la tienda de la esquina.reflexive -ar verb|3rd person singular: -ó|the reflexive pronoun se comes before the verbMy neighbour bought his new TV from the shop on the corner.
- Los profesores ya te (decir) que estudiases más.stem-changing verb: decir → dij-|3rd person plural: -eronThe teachers already told you that you should study more.
Choose between the imperfect and the preterite to complete the gaps in the text.
El año pasado, mi hermano Gregorio y yo a Noruega. signal: el año pasado → preteriteLast year, my brother Gregorio and I moved to Norway.
Los primeros meses un poco difíciles porque no el idioma y la cultura muy extraña para nosotros.1. past situation with a specified duration (signal: los primeros meses) → preterite|2. & 3. describing the circumstances around a past situation → imperfectThe first months were a bit difficult because we didn’t know the language and the culture was very strange to us.
Mi hermano trabajo bastante rápido en una oficina de turismo y sus compañeros nos a buscar un piso agradable para los dos. 1. & 2. sequential, one-time past actions (first he found a job, then they found the flat) → preteriteMy brother found a job at a tourism office quite quickly and his colleagues helped us look for a nice flat for the two of us.
Yo a clases de inglés y noruego en una academia.one-time past action → preteriteI signed up for English and Norwegian classes at an academy.
Al cabo de un tiempo, todo . nuevos amigos y al clima y al ritmo de vida del país.1., 2. & 3. sequence of one-time past actions → preteriteAfter a while, everything got better. We made new friends and got used to the weather and the rhythm of this country’s way of life.
Después de unos meses, una tienda de ropa de segunda mano y mi hermano a trabajar conmigo.1. & 2. sequence of one-time past actions → preteriteAfter a few months, I opened a second-hand clothes shop and my brother started working with me.
dividirnos las tareas: él de la publicidad y de conseguir clientes y yo en la tienda.1. one-time past action → preterite|2. & 3. past habits → imperfectWe decided to split up the tasks: he was in charge of marketing and getting customers and I worked at the shop.
La tienda muy popular rápidamente y en poco tiempo todo el mundo la y de ella. 1. one-time past occurrence → preterite |2. conocer means be familiar with in this context → imperfect|(in the preterite conocer means meet)|3. ongoing past action → imperfectThe shop became very popular very quickly and after a short time everyone knew of it and was speaking about it.
Gregorio la idea de sacar un catálogo semanal con las prendas nuevas que por correo a nuestros clientes.1. one-off past action → preterite|2. repeated past action (signal: semanal) → imperfectGregorio had the idea of releasing a weekly catalogue with the new items that we sent to our customers by post.
Tomar la decisión de irnos a Noruega difícil pero a día de hoy no nos arrepentimos en absoluto. ¡Nos encanta nuestra nueva vida!one-time past action → preteriteMaking the decision to move to Norway was difficult but we don’t regret it at all. We love our new life!
