Section XVII

The imperfect: story passage

• For this section you will be putting one of two things in the blanks. Either:1) A verb conjugated in preterite or imperfect2) A vocabulary phrase• Answers are underlined and in bold. Explanations are on the right. Do not

worry about the (5) on the handout. That was a typo• Generally, verbs following the pattern was + _______ ing will be in the

imperfect.• Verbs ending in –ed or referring to completed actions will generally be in

the preterite. There are a few exceptions to the –ed rule that I will point out as we go along.

• All the verbs in the story will be in the él form, because they are referring to either the boy Antonio (Toño) or el hombre, both males.

Érase una vez un niño llamado Antonio que estaba jugando en el patio de su casa cuando vino su mamá y le dijo:

• Once upon a time – Érase una vez

• Was playing = estaba jugando – imperfect

• Came = vino (preterite of venir – to come, must be in él/ella form because you are talking about his mom [ella])

• Said = dijo (preterite of decir– to say, must be in él/ella form because you are talking about his mom [ella - she])

• ¡Oye, Toño!, anda el pueblo a comprar harina y manteca que ya no hay ---- y le pasó un montón de monedas.

• Passed - pasó ( preterite of pasar – to pass) must use él/ella form because his mom [ella = she] passed the money.

• Montón is like a big pile. Moneda can mean “coins “or “money.”

• Antonio guardó las monedas, se puso el sombrero y salió para Toconce, un pueblo que quedaba justo al otro lado del cerro.

• Put away = guardó ( preterite of guardar- to put away)

• put on = se puso (preterite of the reflexive verb ponerse- to put on; use the él/ella form because you are talking about Antonio [él = he]

• Was located = quedaba (imperfect of quedar- to be located. )This one seems like preterite, because it ends in –ed. but here you are describing a location, description in the past uses imperfect.

• Mientras caminaba , apretaba

el dinero con la mano.

He was walking = caminaba (imperfect of caminar- to walk)

Squeezed = apretaba (imperfect of apretar – to squeeze) Be careful on this one, while squeezed does have the –ed ending, this one is the imperfect. Trust me. It is describing Antonio so itmust be in el/ella form (él = he)

• Iba muy alegre por el camino cuando de repente, vio que un hombre lo seguía

• He was going – iba (imperfect of ir – to go, an irregular verb) Must be in él/ella form. (Él = he).

• All of a sudden – De repente.

• He saw (preterite of ver – to see, an irregular verb.) Must be in él/ella form (I know you know why by now if you have paid attention!!!)

• El hombre presentaba un aspecto sospechoso, así que Antonio, aprovechando una curva del camino, se paró, se quitó el sombrero y lo puso en el suelo con una piedra por debajo.

• Was showing – presentaba (imperfect of presentar – to show) Yes, I know this sounds kind of weird in English. We would use had here, but Spanish is a little special!!) It is saying, more or less “The guy looked suspicious”.

• Stopped – se paró (preterite of pararse – to stop oneself; a reflexive verb)

• Took off – se quitó (preterite of quitarse – to take off;a reflexive verb. Why did I use se ?

• El hombre presentaba un aspecto sospechoso, así que Antonio, aprovechando una curva del camino, se paró, se quitó el sombrero y lo puso en el suelo con una piedra por debajo

• Put = puso (preterite of poner – to put; an irregular verb) Why did I use él/ella?

• Cuando el hombre se asomó por la curva, vio que el niño sujetaba el sombrero en el suelo bien, pero bien firme

• Looked out – this verb will be a freebie, mark A on the scantron. It is only this one, not the two below.

• Saw – vio (preterite of ver – to see ; an irregular verb. Yes, it is él/ella form again.

• Was fastening – sujetaba (imperfect of sujetar- to fasten)

• Entonces le preguntó … • Asked – preguntó (preterite of preguntar – to ask a question) Why is it él?

[note le means “to him”. When we say “He asked him”. We are really saying “We asked a question to him.”, but we do not translate it that way in English.

Of the sentences below:• El hombre lo seguía. [seguir = to follow]• El niño se llama Antonio.• Antonio jugaba en el patio.

1) ¿Cuál oración es parte de la trama? (plot)- This one will be a freebie, Mark A. You still need to know

what trama means for Section XVI.2) ¿Cuál oración habla de un personaje? (character)It is the second one, because we are talking about Antonio’s

name, a character.3)¿Cuál oración indica el escenario? (setting)It is the last one, because it mentions el patio, a place.

Vocab to write• All of a sudden• Once upon a time

• Pgs. 289 and 295 in text

• Setting• Characters• Plot (see assignment 30

handout)