Sentences with simultaneous actions in Spanish

[wtfhelp]

Hello, first time poster. I am I guess an intermediate Spanish learner, and am having trouble with sentences with two simultaneous actions stated. A site I’m using really jumps around and seems inconsistent on these. For example, the type “he was doing this while she was doing that” seems imperfect for both actions; sometimes they use the preterite for one action, and even the esta+present participle for the other. Other sentences, which call for the preterite for one and imperfect for the other appear reversed in the order which they use….And sometimes they reverse the sentence, but not every time…AAAAAAGGHHH!

Are there some “ rules of thumb” to follow for these that someone can offer? Much appreciated in advance!

[Kraut]

Your problem could be "background action" vs "foreground action".
https://slideplayer.com/slide/3818499/
You could have a chatbot correct the passage and see what it does (Prompt: "Please correct this Spanish passage"). With another prompt "Please correct this Spanish passage stylistically" you can find out if the chatbot still agrees to the tenses used.
https://huggingface.co/spaces/darienaco ... coverwhale

[leosmith]

“he was doing this while she was doing that” seems imperfect for both actions; sometimes they use the preterite for one action, and even the esta+present participle for the other.

I won't pretend to be a Spanish grammar wizard, but without specific examples, I'd guess that the English translations are incorrect. For example:
Él estaba haciendo esto mientras ella estaba haciendo eso. = He was doing this while she was doing that.
Él hizo esto mientras ella estaba haciendo eso. = He did this while she was doing that.
Él está haciendo esto mientras ella estaba haciendo eso. = He is doing this while she was doing that.

[Le Baron]

I also had this problem in Spanish somewhat, but simply hadn't ever been aware of it in French (until about 20 years ago I was somewhat lax with grammar). Only when I started going to the language cafe and helping out people did I see the uncertainties, along these lines:

elle a mangé le gâteau et il buvait le lait.
elle a mangé/elle mangeait le gâteau pendant qu'il a bu le lait.

et il a bu le lait.
qu'il buvait le lait.

which one? And that the same thing exists in English:

She ate the cake and he was drinking the milk
She ate the cake and/whilst he drank the milk

And additionally : she ate the cake whilst drinking milk (elle a mangé/elle mangeait le gâteau en buvant du lait) where the second feels like present tense, as differentiated from: she ate/ was eating the cake and drank milk. Or : and was drinking milk.

And in Spanish where it seems more regular to me:

ella comió el pastel y él bebió la leche.

ella comió el pastel mientras él bebía la leche.

y bebió la leche.
mientras bebía la leche.

And and whilst often produce different sentences. However someone with a better grasp of formal grammar can explain the reasons for context-appropriate uses.

[Kraut]

This lady says that there is also a third variant that Spaniards seem to prefer:
pensé
pensaba
estaba pensando
Her recommendation: don't get this mixed up, stick to the rules, but if you understand what you are doing, you can do as the Romans do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCSCdaIQGCE
Spanisch: Wann INDEFINIDO Wann IMPERFECTO - Die einfache Lösung [Vergangenheiten] Fortgeschrittene

[Ogrim]

Context is everything, so without concrete examples it is difficult to know exactly what you struggle with, but let me give you a couple of examples:

Mientras Juan leía, Andrés limpiaba el coche. (While Juan was reading, Andrés was washing the car.)

This is just a description of something which happened in the past, without any indication of the end of the actions described. It is the typical style of a narrative in the past.

Mientras Juan leía, Andrés entró en el salón. (While Juan was reading, Andrés entered the living room.)

This is an example of what Kraut mentions, the background action is that Juan was reading, and the fact that Andrés entered the room is the foreground action. The sentence doesn't say if Juan kept on reading, but the action of Andrés entering the room is completed. He is in the room.

Juan estaba leyendo cuando empezó el terremoto. (Juan was reading when the earthquake started.)

In this case you could also say "Juan leía", but the use of estar + gerundio puts more emphasis on the activity of reading in the very instance that the earthquake started.

[Not 4]

Your problem could be "background action" vs "foreground action".
https://slideplayer.com/slide/3818499/
You could have a chatbot correct the passage and see what it does (Prompt: "Please correct this Spanish passage"). With another prompt "Please correct this Spanish passage stylistically" you can find out if the chatbot still agrees to the tenses used.
https://huggingface.co/spaces/darienaco ... coverwhale

I love this post and slide player
Thank you

[Kraut]

The continuation of a ministory by a chatbot: they have been trained to follow the common rules:

Me dirigí hacia allá, pero en el camino me topé con una situación que me desconcertó por completo: una anciana había caído en la calle y nadie se preocupaba por ella. Me acerqué a ella y le pregunté si necesitaba ayuda. La mujer me agradeció y me contó que no tenía dinero para pagar el taxi que la llevara a su casa. Entonces decidí ayudarla: la llevé a su casa en mi auto y la dejé en su puerta. Cuando regresé a la pizzería, me sentí feliz de haber ayudado a alguien en necesidad. La gente de la pizzería me había estado esperando y me ofrecieron la pizza gratis como gesto de agradecimiento.

This is the kind of (chatbot) story that are easy to memorize which I do, linear action with little steps that can be visualized, leading to some happy end.