La niña llevaba un chubasquero amarillo y saltaba feliz bajo la lluvia.

Both llevaba and saltaba are in the imperfect tense.

They are used because the sentence is describing an ongoing scene in the past:

• llevaba = she was wearing / she used to wear
• saltaba = she was jumping / she kept jumping

The imperfect is very common for:

• background description
• ongoing actions
• repeated or habitual actions in the past

Here, the sentence paints a picture: the girl was wearing a yellow raincoat and was jumping happily in the rain.

If you used the preterite instead:

• llevó
• saltó

it would sound more like completed actions at specific moments, not a descriptive scene.

In Spanish, it is very normal to use the definite article with nouns: el, la, los, las.

So La niña means:

• the girl

Even when English might sometimes sound more natural without an article in certain contexts, Spanish often keeps it.

Also, niña by itself would not mean girl! as a direct form of address unless used in a very specific way. In this sentence, La niña is simply the subject: the girl.

Chubasquero means raincoat.

This is a very common word in Spain. In other Spanish-speaking regions, people may use different words, such as:

• impermeable
• piloto in some places

So if you are learning Spanish from Spain, chubasquero is a very useful word to know.

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• un chubasquero amarillo = a yellow raincoat

This is the normal order for a factual description like color.

Putting the adjective before the noun is much less common and often adds emphasis or a more literary or subjective tone. With colors, the standard position is after the noun.

Because amarillo agrees with chubasquero, not with niña.

• chubasquero is masculine singular
• so the adjective must also be masculine singular: amarillo

Even though la niña is feminine, the adjective amarillo describes the raincoat, not the girl.

Compare:

• La niña llevaba un chubasquero amarillo.
• La niña llevaba una chaqueta amarilla.

In the second sentence, chaqueta is feminine, so the adjective becomes amarilla.

Here feliz is an adjective, but it works like a subject complement.

It describes how the girl was while she was jumping:

• saltaba feliz = she was jumping happy / happily

In natural English, we usually say happily, using an adverb. But Spanish often uses an adjective in this kind of structure to describe the subject’s state during the action.

Other similar examples:

• Caminaba tranquilo. = He was walking calmly / He was walking relaxed.
• Volvió cansada. = She came back tired.

So feliz agrees with the implied subject la niña, though the form feliz looks the same for masculine and feminine singular.

Bajo la lluvia literally means under the rain, and in Spanish it is a very natural way to say in the rain.

So:

• bajo la lluvia = in the rain / under the rain

Using en la lluvia is much less natural in this context. Spanish commonly prefers:

• bajo la lluvia
• bajo la lluvia intensa
• bajo el sol

So this is a good phrase to learn as a set expression.

Spanish often uses the definite article with nouns in general descriptions, especially when talking about something understood in the situation.

So:

• bajo la lluvia = in the rain

This sounds natural because the rain is the environment around the action.

Spanish uses articles more often than English in many cases, so even if English says just in rain or in the rain, Spanish will very often prefer la lluvia here.

Yes, that is a very good translation.

Because both verbs are in the imperfect, the idea is ongoing and descriptive:

• llevaba = was wearing
• saltaba = was jumping

You could also translate it a bit more naturally depending on style:

• The girl was wearing a yellow raincoat and jumping happily in the rain.
• The girl wore a yellow raincoat and jumped happily in the rain.

But the versions with was wearing and was jumping usually reflect the Spanish tense choice better.

Grammatically, you might hear progressive forms like estaba saltando, but in this sentence they are not the most natural choice.

Spanish often prefers the imperfect simple for background description:

• llevaba
• saltaba

Using estaba + gerundio puts more emphasis on the action being in progress at that exact moment. It is possible in some contexts, but it can sound heavier or less elegant here.

Also, estaba llevando for clothing is much less natural than simple llevaba.

So for this descriptive sentence, La niña llevaba un chubasquero amarillo y saltaba feliz bajo la lluvia is the best option.