Question 1

Why use estábamos instead of the preterite estuvimos here?

Accepted Answer

When forming the past continuous to talk about actions that were in progress in the past, you generally use the imperfect tense of estar. You use estábamos because the running was an ongoing, background action (we were running), not a completed event with a specific start and end.

Question 2

Why does correr become corriendo?

Accepted Answer

To make the equivalent of an -ing word (the gerund) for -er and -ir verbs like correr (to run), you drop the ending and add -iendo. If it were an -ar verb, you would add -ando instead.

Question 3

Why does this sentence use por instead of para?

Accepted Answer

A great rule of thumb is that por is used to show the cause or reason behind an action. Here, the wind is the reason they are running, so por el viento translates to because of the wind. Para is normally used to show a goal, purpose, or destination.

Question 4

Why does it say al sótano instead of a el sótano?

Accepted Answer

Whenever the preposition a (to) is followed directly by the masculine word for the (el), they must combine into the single word al. Since basement is masculine (el sótano), it becomes al sótano (to the basement).

Estábamos corriendo al sótano por el viento.

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