Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cuando cocinaba, la abuela usaba leña para el fuego. - When she used to cook, the grandmother used firewood for the fire.

Cuando cocinaba, la abuela usaba leña para el fuego.

When she used to cook, the grandmother used firewood for the fire.

Breakdown of Cuando cocinaba, la abuela usaba leña para el fuego.

Questions & Answers about Cuando cocinaba, la abuela usaba leña para el fuego.

Why are both cocinaba and usaba in the imperfect tense?

Because the sentence describes a repeated habit in the past. The word cuando sets up the context, and both actions happened regularly over time rather than just once. This is exactly what the imperfect tense is used for: describing how things used to be or what people used to do.

The translation says when she used to cook, but there is no ella in the Spanish sentence. How do we know who is cooking?

The verb form cocinaba can mean I cooked, he cooked, she cooked, or you cooked formally. Because the second half of the sentence specifically names la abuela, the context makes it clear that she is the one cooking. Spanish frequently drops subject pronouns like ella when the rest of the sentence tells us who the person is.

Why do we use para instead of por in para el fuego?

We use para here because it shows the purpose of the firewood. The wood is intended for the fire. A helpful tip is that if you can swap the English word for with intended for or in order to make, para is usually the right choice.

Why is there a la before abuela?