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El gato atrapó un pájaro en el parque.

El gato atrapó un pájaro en el parque.
The cat caught a bird in the park.
From Lesson 114:Preterite vs. imperfect·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El gato atrapó un pájaro en el parque.

Why use the preterite atrapó instead of the imperfect atrapaba here?
Catching a bird is a single, sudden, and completed action. The preterite tense (atrapó) is used for finished events like this. If we used the imperfect (atrapaba), it would mean the cat used to catch a bird regularly, or was in the middle of catching one when something else interrupted.
Why isn't there a "personal a" before un pájaro? Isn't a bird a living thing?
The "personal a" is generally used for people and sometimes specific, beloved pets. Since this is just a random wild bird the cat caught, it is treated like an ordinary object grammatically, so no "personal a" is needed.
What does the accent mark on atrapó tell us?
It tells you to put the spoken stress on the final syllable (a-tra-PO) and shows that the verb is in the past tense. Without the accent, atrapo means "I catch" in the present tense (stressed a-TRA-po). The accent mark is the only thing distinguishing the two!
Is atrapar related to the English word "trap"?
Yes! The verb atrapar means to catch, capture, or trap. Recognizing the "trap" inside the word makes it a very easy vocabulary word to remember.

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