Recursio
Lesson 79. It was raining when I left: imperfect and preterite
10 words in this lesson
Tap 🔊 and repeat out loud. These words come back in the dialogue and the exercises below.
imperfecto (background) and indefinido (event); cuando, mientras
Background and event
A story about the past often has two layers:
- background — what was going on, what things were like → imperfecto: llovía, estaba, era, hacía frío;
- event — what happened at a given moment → indefinido: salí, sonó, se apagó.
Llovía cuando salí de casa. — the rain was already falling (background); I went out (event).
Cuando and mientras
- cuando + event: Estaba en casa cuando sonó el teléfono.
- mientras + background: Mientras cenábamos, se apagó la luz.
These are two useful patterns, not tense rules attached to conjunctions. Cuando can introduce a background too: Cuando vivía en Dublín, estudiaba español. The tense depends on how you present the action.
Similar to English
It often matches English was raining (imperfecto) versus left (indefinido). The match is not exact, so ask yourself: is this the setting, or something that happened?
Light
La luz means “light.” Apagar la luz means “to switch off the light”; apagarse means “to go out”: Se apagó la luz. The sentence doesn’t say what caused it. Encender changes its stem: enciendo, enciendes; ¡Enciende la luz!
Llovía cuando salí de casa. — It was raining when I left the house.
Estaba en casa cuando sonó el teléfono. — I was at home when the phone rang.
Mientras cenábamos, se apagó la luz. — While we were having dinner, the light went out.
El cielo estaba muy oscuro. — The sky was very dark.
Era tarde y hacía frío. — It was late and it was cold.
Dialogue
Listen to each line and repeat it. Try to understand it before you look at the translation.
Javier Lucía, ¿qué tal anoche? ¡Qué tormenta! Lucía, how was last night? What a storm!
Lucía ¡Horrible! Llovía mucho y el cielo estaba muy oscuro. Horrible! It was raining hard and the sky was really dark.
Javier ¿Estabas en casa? Were you at home?
Lucía Sí. Mientras cenaba, sonó el timbre. Era Nora. Yes. While I was having dinner, the doorbell rang. It was Nora.
Javier ¿Nora? ¿Qué quería? Nora? What did she want?
Lucía Un poco de sal. Y de repente, se apagó la luz. A bit of salt. And suddenly the light went out.
Javier ¿Y qué hicisteis? And what did you do?
Lucía Nos asustamos un poco, pero luego cenamos juntas. We got a bit scared, but then we had dinner together.
Check yourself
Listen. What did you hear?
1. How do you say “It was raining when I left the house”?
2. A woman talks about last night. How does she say “I was at home when the phone rang”?
3. How do you say “While we were having dinner, the light went out”?
4. The room is very dark. How do you ask a friend to switch on the light?
Match each word with its translation
Build the sentence: “It was raining when I left the house”
Build the sentence: “I was at home when the phone rang”
What you can do now
- Set a scene and an event: Llovía cuando salí de casa.
- Say where you were: Estaba en casa cuando sonó el teléfono.
- Say while: Mientras cenábamos, se apagó la luz.
- Ask: Enciende la luz, por favor.
Key phrases of the lesson:
Llovía cuando salí de casa.
Estaba en casa cuando sonó el teléfono.
Mientras cenábamos, se apagó la luz.
Day 79 of 100. Next up: the following lesson.
Lesson 80. Module 16 review and test →The course is the first step. Next comes the Recursio app: short daily practice with spaced review.