Spanish · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 1 of 12
Stories and memories
Historias y recuerdos
Tell a story about the past in Spanish: use the pluperfect for what had already happened and order events with primero, luego and al final.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Tell a story using the preterite, the imperfect and the pluperfect together
- Say what had already happened with the pluperfect: había salido
- Order events with primero, luego, de repente and al final
- React to a story with ¡Vaya! and ¡Qué casualidad!
Listen
In a cider house in Oviedo, Pilar asks her old friend Óscar how he met his wife, Nieves. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Pilar
Oye, Óscar, ¿cómo conociste a Nieves? Nunca me lo has contado.
Hey, Óscar, how did you meet Nieves? You've never told me.
Óscar
Es una historia muy bonita. Fue en una estación de tren, en el verano de 2003.
It's a lovely story. It was at a train station, in the summer of 2003.
Pilar
¿En una estación? ¿Y qué pasó?
At a station? And what happened?
Óscar
Yo volvía a Oviedo después de un examen en Madrid. Cuando llegué a la estación, el tren ya había salido.
I was going back to Oviedo after an exam in Madrid. When I got to the station, the train had already left.
Pilar
¡Vaya! ¿Y qué hiciste?
Oh no! And what did you do?
Óscar
Primero compré un billete para el tren de la noche. Luego me senté en la cafetería a esperar.
First I bought a ticket for the night train. Then I sat down in the café to wait.
Pilar
Y allí estaba Nieves, claro.
And Nieves was there, of course.
Óscar
Exacto. Ella también había perdido el tren. Estaba muy nerviosa, porque al día siguiente tenía una entrevista de trabajo en Oviedo.
Exactly. She had missed the train too. She was very nervous, because the next day she had a job interview in Oviedo.
Pilar
¡Qué casualidad!
What a coincidence!
Óscar
Empezamos a hablar y, cuando llegó el tren, ya éramos amigos. Nos sentamos juntos durante todo el viaje.
We started talking and, by the time the train came, we were already friends. We sat together for the whole journey.
Pilar
¿Y le dieron el trabajo?
And did she get the job?
Óscar
Sí. Vino a vivir a Oviedo y dos años después nos casamos.
Yes. She came to live in Oviedo and two years later we got married.
Understand
The pluperfect: había salido
To say that something had already happened before another moment in the past, Spanish uses the “pluperfect” (). It's made with in the imperfect plus the past participle you know from the present perfect: (had left), (had missed).
It often goes with (already) and (never): (When I got to the station, the train had already left). Compare : the train left just as I arrived. Irregular participles stay irregular: , , , , , , , .
| Person | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| (I had already eaten.) | ||
| (Had you been to Oviedo before?) | ||
| / / | (The train had already left.) | |
| / | (We had never seen the sea.) | |
| / | (Had you made the booking?) | |
| / / | (My parents had already come back.) |
Telling a story with three past tenses
A story in Spanish usually mixes three past tenses. The preterite moves the story forward: what happened next. The imperfect paints the background: the situation, what was going on, how people felt. The pluperfect takes one step further back, to things that had happened before.
| Tense | Its job in a story | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Preterite () | events: what happened next | |
| Imperfect () | background, situations, feelings | / |
| Pluperfect () | what had happened before |
First, then, in the end
Sequencing words help the listener follow a story. and both mean “then” or “afterwards”. After a length of time, means “later”: (two years later). means “suddenly”.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| first | |
| / | then, afterwards |
| then, at that moment | |
| later | |
| suddenly | |
| in the end | |
| two years later |
More in the grammar: The imperfect: describing the past · The preterite: talking about the past · The pluperfect and reported speech: había hecho
New words
- contarto tell (a story); to count · o → ue: , …; : You've never told me
- la historiastory; history · feminine
- primerofirst (adverb) · : First I bought a ticket
- esperarto wait; to wait for · regular: , …
- exactoexactly, that's right
- perderto miss (a train, a bus); to lose · e → ie: , …
- nervioso / nerviosanervous
- al día siguientethe next day, the following day
- la entrevista de trabajojob interview · feminine
- ¡Qué casualidad!What a coincidence!
- empezar ato start doing something · + infinitive; e → ie: ; preterite:
- duranteduring, for (a period) · : for the whole journey
- dos años despuéstwo years later
- casarseto get married · : we got married; : to marry someone
Practise
1.Complete: “Cuando llegué a la estación, el tren ya … .” (had left)
2.Complete with the pluperfect of : “She had missed the train too.”
She had missed the train too.
3.Complete with the imperfect of : “She was very nervous.”
She was very nervous.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.We got married two years later.
5.Match the Spanish with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.What does mean?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Nunca me lo has contado.
You've never told me.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.