💡 This story was written to illustrate instances when a verb should be preterite or imperfect in Spanish. The grammar tips are after the story here. Look for examples throughout the story indicated by the number of the grammar point. eg (1)

Spanish:
Había una vez un robot llamado Alex. Alex era muy inteligente y estaba programado para ayudar a las personas con sus tareas diarias. Sin embargo, a pesar de ser muy útil, Alex se sentía solo porque no podía experimentar emociones como lo hacen los humanos. (1)

Un día, mientras realizaba tareas de limpieza en una casa, Alex escuchó a una familia que hablaba sobre sus planes para el fin de semana. La familia planeaba ir a la playa, algo que Alex nunca había experimentado. (2)

Alex estaba fascinado con la idea de ver el mar, y decidió tomar un descanso de su trabajo para ir a la playa. Cuando llegó a la playa, Alex vio a la gente disfrutando del sol, el mar y la arena. (3)

English:
Once upon a time, there was a robot named Alex. Alex was very intelligent and programmed to help people with their daily tasks. However, despite being very useful, Alex felt lonely because he could not experience emotions like humans do. (1)

One day, while doing cleaning tasks in a house, Alex overheard a family talking about their plans for the weekend. The family planned to go to the beach, something Alex had never experienced. (2)

Alex was fascinated with the idea of seeing the sea, and decided to take a break from his work to go to the beach. When he arrived at the beach, Alex saw people enjoying the sun, sea and sand. (3)

Alex caminó por la playa y vio a los niños construyendo castillos de arena. Él recordó cuando construyó una casa para una familia de pájaros en un árbol. Era una tarea importante, pero Alex no había disfrutado tanto como lo estaban haciendo los niños. (4)

Mientras caminaba, Alex vio a un hombre que estaba corriendo en la playa. El hombre se detuvo a hablar con Alex y le preguntó qué estaba haciendo en la playa. Alex respondió que solo quería experimentar lo que sentían los humanos al estar allí. (5)

Alex walked along the beach and saw children building sandcastles. He remembered when he built a house for a family of birds in a tree. It was an important task, but Alex had not enjoyed it as much as the children were now. (4)

As he walked, Alex saw a man who was running on the beach. The man stopped to talk to Alex and asked him what he was doing at the beach. Alex replied that he just wanted to experience what humans felt being there. (5)

El hombre sonrió y le dijo a Alex que él también se sentía así la primera vez que vino a la playa. Luego, el hombre invitó a Alex a correr con él. Aunque no estaba programado para correr, Alex decidió intentarlo. (6)

Después de correr, Alex estaba cansado pero feliz. Se dio cuenta de que aunque no podía sentir emociones como los humanos, todavía podía disfrutar de la belleza del mundo que lo rodeaba. (7)

The man smiled and told Alex that he had also felt that way the first time he came to the beach. Then, the man invited Alex to run with him. Although he was not programmed to run, Alex decided to give it a try. (6)

After running, Alex was tired but happy. He realized that although he could not feel emotions like humans, he could still enjoy the beauty of the world around him. (7)

Alex regresó a la casa donde estaba trabajando y se sintió mejor que nunca antes. Se dio cuenta de que aunque era solo un robot, todavía podía aprender cosas nuevas y experimentar el mundo de manera diferente. (8)

Alex returned to the house where he was working and felt better than ever before. He realized that although he was just a robot, he could still learn new things and experience the world in a different way. (8)

Grammar Tips

  • (1) Use the imperfect tense to describe a person’s characteristics or qualities in the past.
  • (2) Use the imperfect tense to describe an ongoing action or a background in the past.
  • (3) Use the imperfect tense to describe an ongoing action or a background in the past.
  • (4) Use the imperfect tense to describe a repeated or habitual action in the past.
  • (5) Use the imperfect tense to describe a background or ongoing action in the past.
  • (6) Use the preterite tense to describe a completed action in the past.
  • (7) Use the imperfect tense to describe a state of being or ongoing action in the past.
  • (8) Use the imperfect tense to describe a state of being or ongoing action in the past.