Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando sucedió el terremoto? - What were you doing when the earthquake happened?

¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando sucedió el terremoto?

What were you doing when the earthquake happened?

Breakdown of ¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando sucedió el terremoto?

estar

to be (location/state)

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando sucedió el terremoto?

Why do we use estabas haciendo here instead of the preterite hiciste?

This sentence is a classic example of an ongoing action interrupted by a sudden event. We use the past continuous (estabas haciendo, meaning 'were doing') for the background action that was already in progress. We use the preterite (sucedió, meaning 'happened') for the sudden event that interrupted it.

Could I use the preterite estuviste instead of the imperfect estabas?

No, for the past continuous you always use the imperfect tense of estar plus the gerund. The imperfect (estabas) sets the scene of an ongoing, unfinished action, which is exactly what the past continuous is for!

Why does the verb come before the subject in sucedió el terremoto?

In Spanish, it is very common to put the subject after the verb, especially with verbs that describe something happening, arriving, or existing. You could say cuando el terremoto sucedió, but cuando sucedió el terremoto sounds much more natural to native speakers.

Is sucedió related to the English word 'succeed'?