Question

practice a: underline the more appropriate verb form.

1. while i was studying, she listened to the tapes. mientras yo (estudié/estudiaba), ella (escuchó/escuchaba) las cintas.

chapter 9

1. this morning i got up early, dressed, and had a cup of coffee. esta mañana me (levanté/levantaba) temprano, me (vestí/vestía) y (tomé/tomaba) una taza de café.
2. yesterday afternoon she wrote a letter. ayer por la tarde (escribió/escribía) una carta.
3. while she wrote, it started to snow. mientras (escribió/escribía), (empezó/ empezaba) a nevar.
4. the time of day in the past is expressed by the imperfect: eran las siete cuando llegaron. it was seven oclock when they arrived.
5. the imperfect is used to describe people, places, or events in the past:

a. había una vez dos atletas que eran muy fuertes. se llamaban lola y felipe. los dos tenían los ojos azules. cuando andaban por los pasillos de la escuela, todos los estudiantes los admiraban. there were once two athletes who were very strong. their names were lola and felipe. both had blue eyes. when they walked along the school’s corridors, all the students admired them.
b. las montañas de ese país eran altas y hermosas. the mountains of that country were high and beautiful.
c. cuando mi tío vivía en puerto rico, a menudo iba a ponce. when my uncle lived in puerto rico, he often went to ponce.

Explanation:

Question 1

In Spanish, the imperfect tense is used for ongoing actions in the past, and the preterite for completed actions. "While I was studying" (ongoing) uses imperfect "estudiaba", and "she listened" (completed) uses preterite "escuchó".

These are a series of completed actions in the morning, so we use the preterite tense for each: "levanté" (got up), "vestí" (dressed), "tomé" (had).

"Yesterday afternoon she wrote a letter" is a single completed action in the past, so we use the preterite "escribió".

Answer:

Mientras yo \underline{estudiaba}, ella \underline{escuchó} las cintas.

Question 2