Lesson 61

When the Line Meets the Dot

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

This is where the imperfect and preterite work together — the imperfect sets the scene (background line), the preterite delivers the event (what happened — the dot).

Sonar = to sound. El teléfono = the phone (Greek: tele = far, phone = voice). Llegar = to arrive. Cocinar = to cook.

Me quedé = I stayed (preterite of quedarse). Se quedó = he/she stayed. Compare with me quedaba (I was staying / used to stay — imperfect).

Gustar in the past: Me gustó = I liked it (dot — completed). Me gustaba = I used to like it / I was liking it (line). Me parecía bien = It seemed good to me (imperfect).

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Cocinaba.	I was cooking. (line)
Cuando el teléfono sonó.	When the phone rang. (dot)
Cocinaba cuando el teléfono sonó.	I was cooking when the phone rang.
Llegué.	I arrived.
Llegó.	He arrived.
Llegamos.	We arrived.
Hablaba por teléfono cuando María llegó.	I was speaking on the phone when Maria arrived.
Me quedé.	I stayed.
Se quedó.	He stayed.
Nos quedamos.	We stayed.
Me gustó.	I liked it.
No me gustó.	I didn't like it. (dot)
No me gustaba.	I didn't used to like it. / I wasn't liking it. (line)
Me parece bien.	It seems good to me. (present)
Me parecía bien.	It seemed good to me. (imperfect)