ELONIO
Log inSign up

El campesino usaba su caballo cuando no tenía carreta.

El campesino usaba su caballo cuando no tenía carreta.
The farmer used his horse when he didn't have a cart.
From Lesson 111:Past habits with when (cuando)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El campesino usaba su caballo cuando no tenía carreta.

Why are both verbs (usaba and tenía) in the imperfect tense?
Both verbs are in the imperfect because this describes a repeated past habit, not a one-time event. Usaba (used to use) and tenía (used to have) show that both the action and the condition were ongoing situations in the past.
Does cuando always mean we should use the imperfect tense?
Not always. In this sentence, cuando links two ongoing past situations to show a habit. However, if you were describing a sudden action that interrupted something else (like "he was riding his horse when he fell"), the sudden action would use the preterite tense instead.
Why does the Spanish sentence say no tenía carreta instead of no tenía una carreta?
In Spanish, it is very common to leave out the indefinite article (un or una) after the verb tener when talking about typical, everyday possessions. Since a cart is a standard thing for a farmer to have, the una is simply dropped.
Could su caballo also mean "her horse" or "their horse"?
Yes! The word su is a very flexible possessive adjective that can mean his, her, its, your (formal), or their. We know it translates to "his" here just from the context, because it refers back to el campesino (the farmer).

Learn El campesino usaba su caballo cuando no tenía carreta and more in Spanish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Spanish →