Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Cuando vivíamos en la costa, los huracanes eran frecuentes y toda la familia corría al refugio del barrio. - When we lived on the coast, hurricanes were frequent and the whole family would run to the neighborhood shelter.

In Spanish, the imperfect tense describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past. Vivíamos (“we used to live” or “we were living”) suggests that living on the coast was a continuous or repeated situation, not a one-time event. The preterite vivimos would imply that the action was completed at a specific point.

Why are eran frecuentes also in the imperfect tense?

Again, the imperfect is used for repeated or habitual states. Eran frecuentes means “they were frequent” as an ongoing characteristic of that past period. Using the preterite fueron frecuentes would imply you’re pointing to hurricanes being frequent in one single, bounded episode, rather than over the whole time you lived there.

Why is corría used instead of a preterite like corrió?

Corría is the imperfect form of “run,” so it highlights that the family running to the shelter happened habitually every time a hurricane came. If you used the preterite corrió, you’d be describing a single instance: “the family ran (once) to the shelter.”

What does cuando vivíamos en la costa literally and idiomatically mean?

Literally, cuando vivíamos en la costa is “when we were living on the coast.” Idiomatically in English you’d say “when we lived on the coast” or “back when we lived by the coast.” It sets the time frame for what follows.

Why is la costa used with the definite article?

In Spanish, general geographic terms like costa (“coast”) often take the definite article. So la costa is just “the coast,” even if you’re speaking generally, whereas English tends to drop “the” in similar contexts.

What do al and del mean in corría al refugio del barrio?

Al is a contraction of a + el, meaning “to the.”
Del is a contraction of de + el, meaning “of the” or “from the.”
So corría al refugio del barrio = “(the family) ran to the neighborhood’s shelter.”

Why toda la familia instead of toda familia or todas la familia?

Familia is a feminine singular noun, so you need the feminine singular adjective toda and the article la: toda la familia = “the whole family.”

toda familia sounds incomplete (missing article).
todas la familia mismatches number and gender (todas is plural, familia is singular).

Can you drop cuando and still convey the same idea?

Yes. You could say Vivíamos en la costa, los huracanes eran frecuentes… and it would be grammatically correct. However, cuando clearly signals that the first clause is setting up a time frame for the second clause, which can make the sentence smoother and more explicit.

Could you put the time clause at the end instead?

Absolutely. You can say:
Los huracanes eran frecuentes y toda la familia corría al refugio del barrio cuando vivíamos en la costa.
Both orders are valid; fronting the time clause (as in the original) simply gives extra emphasis to “when we lived on the coast.”