We need to determine whether the imperfect or preterite tense should be used in the spaces in the passage.

Remember, the **preterite** is used for:
– Single past events that happened at a specific moment in time
– An action that happened in the past that interrupted an ongoing action
– Sequences of events

The **imperfect** is used for:
– Actions that are habitual or repetitive
– Characteristics or conditions
– Progressive actions (“he was walking…”)
– Things that one used to do
– Time/Age

The verbs in this sentence are currently written in the present tense, but need to be converted into the preterite or imperfect. For the sake of clarity, we will be writing these sentences using the past tense.

The first sentence reads:
*One day, when the weather **was** good, my family and I **decided** to have a picnic.*

Since the weather being good was an ongoing condition, the *Imperfect* should be used. The family *deciding* to go on the picnic was an action that happened once and was over with, so it should be written in the *preterite*.

The second sentence reads:
*Paco and Frederico **told** jokes while Marta and I **found** the basket.*

Paco and Frederico telling jokes was an ongoing action, so it should be conjugated in the **imperfect**.
Finding the basket was a single, finished action, so it should be conjugated in the **preterite.**

The third and fourth sentences read:
*My mom **put** the drinks in the basket. We **gathered** with our parents in the park.*

Placing the drinks in the basket was a single, completed action and should therefore be written in the *preterite.* Gathering with their parents in the park, however, is not an action with a specific beginning/end, so should be written in the *imperfect.*

The first two sentences of the second paragraph read:
***There were** many people in the park. The older people **chatted** and the young people **played** while we **arrived**.*

The people *being in the park* was a condition, so it should be written in the *imperfect.*
The older people chatting and the young people playing are both actions that were ongoing, so they too should be written in the *imperfect*.
The arrival, however, was not an ongoing action; it was a single action that interrupted the other actions. It should therefore be written in the *preterite*.

The third and fourth sentences read:
*Everyone **had fun** when the clouds **came**. **It started** to rain.*

Having fun was a condition, so it should be written in the *imperfect*.
The other two verbs are single, completed actions (the first of which *interrupted* the fun) and should therefore be written in the preterite.

The fifth and sixth sentences read:
*Everyone **ran** to their cars or to their houses. The people no longer **laughed**, the young people no longer **played**, and the babies **began** to cry.*

The people *running* to their cars was an action that began and ended at a specific time, so it should be written in the *preterite*.

The laughing and playing were both ongoing conditions, so they should be written in the *imperfect*.

The baby **beginning** to cry describes the start of something– at a specific time– and should therefore be written in the preterite.

The final sentence reads:
*My family and I **said goodbye to each other** and this **ended** our holiday.*

Both of these actions are singular events, so they should be written in the *preterite.*