Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cuando la noche era oscura, usábamos velas. - When the night was dark, we used candles.

Cuando la noche era oscura, usábamos velas.

When the night was dark, we used candles.

Breakdown of Cuando la noche era oscura, usábamos velas.

Questions & Answers about Cuando la noche era oscura, usábamos velas.

Why are both "era" and "usábamos" in the imperfect tense here?

This sentence talks about a repeated past habit, which is why we use the imperfect tense. Cuando (when) sets up the background situation (era oscura — a recurring past state), and usábamos tells us what we used to do every time that happened.

Could I use the preterite "usamos" instead of "usábamos"?

If you used usamos (preterite), it would sound like a single, completed event: "we used candles" on one specific night. Because we want to say "we used to use candles" as a habit whenever it was dark, the imperfect usábamos is the right choice here.

Why is it "era oscura" (from ser) instead of "estaba oscura" (from estar)?

We use era here to describe the defining characteristic of those particular nights—essentially meaning "whenever it was a dark kind of night." If you used estaba oscura, it would focus more on the temporary condition of one specific night.

Do I need to include "nosotros" before "usábamos"?

You don't have to! The -ábamos ending on usábamos already tells us that the subject is "we." You could say nosotros usábamos, but dropping the pronoun is very common and sounds more natural in Spanish.