SpanishB1Lesson 1.1
🇪🇸 Spanish B1 · Lesson 1.1

Cuando era pequeño — Childhood memories

Contrast the imperfecto (background) with the pretérito indefinido (events) to narrate a memory.

Listen first

A woman remembers the summers she spent at her grandparents' village house.

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New vocabulary — tap to hear
de pequeño / de niñoas a child 🔊
solía (soler + infinitivo)I used to (do) 🔊
el recuerdothe memory 🔊
el veranothe summer 🔊
una vezonce / one time 🔊
echar de menosto miss (something/someone) 🔊

Now say it

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« De pequeño solía jugar en la calle, pero un día me caí y me rompí el brazo. » 🔊
As a child I used to play in the street, but one day I fell and broke my arm.
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Pronunciation

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Cuando era pequeña, pasaba todos los veranos en el pueblo de mis abuelos, que estaba cerca de Granada. 🔊When I was little, I spent every summer in my grandparents' village, which was near Granada.
¿Y qué hacíais allí durante el día? 🔊And what did you all do there during the day?
Normalmente jugábamos en la calle hasta que oscurecía, pero un día nos perdimos en el campo. 🔊We usually played in the street until it got dark, but one day we got lost in the countryside.
¿En serio? ¿Y qué pasó al final? 🔊Really? And what happened in the end?
Mi abuelo nos encontró dos horas después; estaba muy preocupado, pero no se enfadó. 🔊My grandfather found us two hours later; he was very worried, but he didn't get angry.
Qué bonito recuerdo. Seguro que echas de menos esos veranos. 🔊What a lovely memory. I'm sure you miss those summers.
Grammar in focus · imperfecto vs. pretérito indefinido

The imperfecto sets the scene: habits, descriptions, age, weather, ongoing states — « De pequeño jugaba al fútbol todos los días » (background, repeated). The pretérito indefinido reports a single completed event that moves the story forward — « Un día me rompí la pierna » (a specific event). They often appear together: the imperfecto is the 'stage', the indefinido is the 'action' on it — « Llovía cuando salí de casa » (it was raining = background; I left = event).

Write it yourself

Write 4–5 sentences about a childhood memory, mixing the imperfecto for the background with the pretérito indefinido for the key events.

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Tip for this task
« ¡Bien! » Keep using the imperfecto for what was generally true and the indefinido for the moment something happened. For example: « Vivíamos en un piso pequeño cuando nació mi hermano. »

Quick check

An adaptive quiz confirms you've got it and schedules the right words for review.

1. Which tense describes a repeated past habit (the background)?
2. Choose the correct sentence for a single completed event.
3. In « Llovía cuando salí », which verb is the background?
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