a. salía

b. salió

1. Correct Answer: b. nací (preterite)

Yo nací en Madrid en el año mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro.

I was born in Madrid in nineteen eighty-four. 

REASON: The preterite is used for actions that took place at a determined moment in the past. Certain verbs, such as nacer (to be born), are most commonly seen in the preterite.

2.  Correct Answer: a. preparaba (imperfect)

Ella todavía preparaba la cena cuando los invitados llegaron. 

She was still making dinner when the guests arrived. 

REASON: Use the imperfect tense to describe past actions in progress that were interrupted by another action. Interrupting actions, on the other hand, should be in the preterite, as is llegaron in this example. 

3. Correct Answer: a. Eran (imperfect)

Eran las cuatro de la tarde y ya se oscurecía.

It was four in the afternoon, and it was already getting dark. 

REASON: Past dates and times in Spanish are described with the imperfect tense. Let's see an example:

aunque todavía era el mes de junio,

despite the fact that it was still the month of June,

Caption 39, Fermín y los gatos - Mi gata Poeska

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4. Correct Answer: b. salió (preterite)

David estaba en la ducha cuando su esposa salió de la casa para ir a trabajar. 

David was in the shower when his wife left the house to go to work. 

REASON: The verb salir (to leave) is conjugated in the preterite in this sentence because it interrupts an action in progress. The action in progress, estaba (was), is in the imperfect. 

5. Correct Answer: a. era, Tenía (imperfect)

El chico era muy alto. Tenía el pelo negro y los ojos verdes. 

The boy was very tall. He had black hair and green eyes.

REASON: Both verbs in this sentence are in the imperfect tense, which is used to describe past conditions and characteristics. Let's hear this use of the imperfect in action:

En lugar de plumas amarillas,

Instead of yellow feathers,

las suyas eran grises

his were grey,

y respecto a sus patas

and regarding his legs,

ellas eran increíblemente grandes y feas.

they were incredibly big and ugly.

Captions 22-25, Cleer - El patito feo

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6. Correct Answer: a. visitaban (imperfect)

Los hermanos visitaban a sus abuelos en New Hampshire todos los veranos. 

The brothers used to visit their grandparents in New Hampshire every summer.

REASON: The imperfect visitaban is used here because habitual past actions are described with the imperfect. 

7. Correct Answer: b. obtuvo (preterite)

La gimnasta rumana Nadia Comaneci obtuvo siete veces una calificacción perfecta durante su carrera. 

Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci earned a perfect score seven times during her career.

REASON: Actions that are completed a specific number of times in the past are conveyed with the preterite.

8. Correct Answer: a. tenían (imperfect)

Los gemelos empezaron la escuela cuando tenían tres años.

The twins started school when they were three years old. 

REASON: When talking about age in the past, choose the imperfect tense. 

9. Correct Answer: a. Nos levantamos, nos arreglamos, nos fuimos (preterite)

Nos levantamos por la mañana, nos arreglamos y nos fuimos a trabajar. 

We got up in the morning, we got ready, and we went to work. 

REASON: The preterite tense in Spanish should be used to relay a series of completed actions in the past, like in the following caption:

Un día el sol volvió a salir,

One day the sun came out again,

se oyó un ruido atronador

a thunderous noise was heard

y apareció un bello arco de colores en el cielo.

and a beautiful colorful arch appeared in the sky.

Captions 42-44, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bochica

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10. Correct Answer: b. Estábamos (imperfect)

Estábamos muy emocionados porque nuestra tía nos venía a visitar.

We were very excited because our aunt was coming to visit us. 

REASON: When speaking about past emotional states, the imperfect is most often employed. An exception to this rule might be when one suddenly feels an emotion in a particular moment. 

Bonus Round

11. Correct answer: d. bailaba (imperfect), se tropezó (preterite)

Carla bailaba su solo en el recital cuando de repente se tropezó.

Carla was dancing her solo in the recital when she suddenly tripped.

REASON: The first verb (bailaba) is in the imperfect because it was the action that was interrupted by the second, interrupting action, in the preterite (tropezó). We hope you are getting the hang of this concept!

12. Correct Answer: b. estaba (imperfect), era (imperfect)

Diego estaba muy emocionado porque era el once de enero: el día de su cumpleaños. 

Diego was very excited because it was January eleventh: his birthday. 

REASON: Both verbs are in the imperfect, the first because it describes a past emotional state, and the second because it refers to a date.

13. Correct Answer: d. conocía (imperfect), conocí (preterite)

Aunque ya conocía a algunas personas en mi escuela, no conocí a mi mejor amigo hasta mi segundo año.

Although I already knew some people at my new school, I didn't meet my best friend until my sophomore year. 

REASON: This one is tricky! While both are conjugations of the verb conocer (to meet), the first one is imperfect since it talks about "knowing" people over an extended period of time in the past, whereas the second incidence, in preterite, refers to "meeting" someone at a particular past moment. To learn more such verbs, check out this lesson on verbs that change meaning in the preterite. 

14. Correct Answer: c. empezó (preterite), estábamos (imperfect)

En el momento en que empezó a nevar, estábamos en camino a la playa. 

At the moment it started to snow, we were on our way to the beach. 

REASON: While this is yet another example of a verb in preterite (empezó) that interrupts a past action in progress in the imperfect (estábamos), note that in contrast with the previous examples, the interrupting verb comes first in this example. 

15. Correct Answer: d. era (imperfect), se casó (preterite), duró (preterite)

La chica, que era muy guapa y joven, se casó con su novio el día tres de septiembre en una boda que duró más de cinco horas.

The girl, who was very pretty and young, married her boyfriend on September third in a wedding that lasted more than five hours.

REASON: In this example, era (was) is in the imperfect because it describes past traits/characteristics, while se casó (married) and duró are in the preterite because they describe actions with concrete starts/finishes in the past. The verb casarse (to get married) is yet another example of a verb that, when in the past, is most typically seen in the preterite tense, as in the following caption:

Cuando mis papás se casaron, estaba de moda Lucho Bermúdez,

When my parents got married, Lucho Bermudez was in fashion,

Caption 2, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 4

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