Tell a story about something that happened

You already know the forms of both past tenses: the preterite — hablé, comí, fui — I spoke, I ate, I went (units 7–9), and the imperfect — hablaba, comía, era — I was speaking, I was eating, I was (units 12–13). Now the main question is how to choose between them in a story.

Every story has events and background. An event moves the story forward. The background is the picture where everything takes place.

Together it looks like this:

• Llovía y no tenía paraguas. Entré en un bar. — It was raining and I didn't have an umbrella. I went into a bar.
• Eran las once y la calle estaba vacía. De pronto oí un grito. — It was eleven o'clock and the street was empty. Suddenly I heard a scream.

A tip from English. The imperfect often matches "was / were + -ing" or "used to", and the preterite matches the simple past: sonaba — the phone was ringing; sonó — the phone rang.

Watch out when a length of time is named. If the time is named and it's over (dos horas, todo el día, cinco años), Spanish needs the preterite, even if English could say "I was working all day":

• Ayer trabajé todo el día. — Yesterday I worked all day. (Not trabajaba.)
• Esperamos dos horas. — We waited for two hours.
• Viví cinco años en una ciudad grande. — I lived in a big city for five years.

When the length of time is named, the action is shown as a whole, from start to finish. For a Spanish speaker that's an event, not background.

You already know cuando — when (A1, unit 11: Cuando llueve, no salgo). In a story about the past, cuando and the new word mientras (while) link the background and the event.

Mientras + imperfect — while something was going on:

• Mientras esperaba el autobús, empezó a llover. — While I was waiting for the bus, it started to rain.
• Mientras yo cocinaba, Pablo veía una serie. — While I was cooking, Pablo was watching a TV series. (Both actions went on for a while, so both are in the imperfect.)

Cuando + preterite — the moment when something happened:

• Cenábamos cuando llamaron a la puerta. — We were having dinner when someone knocked on the door.
• Cuando llegué a casa, estaba empapada. — When I got home, I was soaked (woman speaking).
• Cuando oí el trueno, cerré la ventana. — When I heard the thunder, I closed the window. (Two events, one after the other, so both are in the preterite.)

English works the same way here: the longer action is "was / were + -ing", the short one that interrupts it is the simple past.

You've also seen cuando with the imperfect: cuando era pequeño — when I was little. There cuando doesn't name a moment but a whole period of life.

Signal words for an event: de pronto, de repente (suddenly), en ese momento (at that moment). After them you almost always use the preterite: De pronto sonó el timbre. — Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Common mistake: using the preterite after mientras. ✗ mientras esperé el autobús → mientras esperaba el autobús: "while" describes something that was going on.

You already know había — there was, there were (unit 13): En mi barrio había un cine. Hay has a second past form too — hubo. It's the preterite, and the choice is the same: background or event.

• Había niebla y no había nadie en la calle. — It was foggy and there was no one in the street.
• Anoche hubo una tormenta muy fuerte. — Last night there was a very strong storm.
• Hubo un apagón en todo el barrio. — There was a blackout in the whole neighborhood.
• El sábado hubo una fiesta en casa de Lucía. — On Saturday there was a party at Lucía's place.

How to check. Replace "there was" with "it happened" or "it took place". If that works, use hubo (a storm, an accident, a blackout, a party, a concert). If it doesn't, use había (people, things, the weather as a picture).

Common mistake: changing the form in the plural. Like hay, both forms always stay the same: había muchas personas (there were a lot of people), hubo dos apagones — there were two blackouts. Never habían or hubieron.