Breakdown of Estábamos trabajando cuando se vendió este jarrón artesanal.
estar
to be (location/state)
trabajar
to work
vender
to sell
este
this
se
(impersonal) one / passive marker
el jarrón
vase
cuando
when (statement)
artesanal
artisanal
Questions & Answers about Estábamos trabajando cuando se vendió este jarrón artesanal.
Why do we use se vendió instead of just vendió?
Adding se creates the passive voice here. If you just said vendió, it would mean 'he/she/it sold.' By using se vendió, the sentence means 'was sold.' We use the preterite (completed past) form vendió because the sale was a specific, one-time event.
Why is vendió conjugated in the singular form?
In a passive se sentence, the thing being acted upon actually becomes the grammatical subject. Here, the subject is este jarrón artesanal (this artisanal vase). Since the vase is singular, the verb must be singular (vendió). If we were talking about multiple vases being sold, the verb would change to plural: se vendieron estos jarrones.
Why does this sentence mix the imperfect tense (estábamos) with the preterite tense (se vendió)?
Could I just say trabajábamos instead of estábamos trabajando?
Yes, you can! Trabajábamos is the standard imperfect tense and can also mean 'we were working.' However, using the past progressive form (estábamos trabajando) strongly emphasizes that the action was actively in progress right at the exact moment the vase was sold.
Learn Estábamos trabajando cuando se vendió este jarrón artesanal 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