Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cuando vivía en México, hablaba con mucha fluidez. - When I lived in Mexico, I spoke with a lot of fluency.

Cuando vivía en México, hablaba con mucha fluidez.

When I lived in Mexico, I spoke with a lot of fluency.

Breakdown of Cuando vivía en México, hablaba con mucha fluidez.

to live / to be constantly (doing something)

in / on / at

Questions & Answers about Cuando vivía en México, hablaba con mucha fluidez.

Why are both verbs (vivía and hablaba) in the imperfect tense here rather than the preterite?

We use the imperfect tense here because it describes an ongoing period of time in the past without a specific start or end date. Cuando vivía en México sets the background, and hablaba describes an ongoing ability or habit during that time.

Could vivía and hablaba refer to 'he' or 'she' instead of 'I'?

Yes! The imperfect endings for yo and él/ella/usted are identical (-ía for ER/IR verbs, -aba for AR verbs). Without the English translation or surrounding context, this sentence could also mean 'When he lived in Mexico, he spoke with a lot of fluency.' You would add a pronoun like yo if it wasn't already clear from the conversation.

Why say con mucha fluidez instead of just using an adverb like fluidamente?

While fluidamente exists, native Spanish speakers very often prefer using con plus a noun to describe how an action is done. Phrases like con fluidez (fluently), con cuidado (carefully), or con cariño (affectionately) sound much more natural in everyday speech than long adverbs ending in -mente.

Why is it mucha fluidez instead of mucho fluidez?