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Mi abuelo era granjero y vivía en una granja pequeña.

Mi abuelo era granjero y vivía en una granja pequeña.
My grandfather was a farmer and lived on a small farm.
From Lesson 146:Describing the past with the imperfect·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Mi abuelo era granjero y vivía en una granja pequeña.

Why are we using the imperfect tense (era) instead of the preterite (fue)?
The imperfect tense is used here because you are describing what someone was like or what they did for a living over an extended, undefined period in the past. It sets the background scene rather than talking about a single, completed event.
Does vivía use the imperfect tense for the same reason?
Yes! vivía is the imperfect form of vivir (to live). Living on the farm was an ongoing background situation in your grandfather's life, not a sudden action with a specific start and end point.
The English translation says "a farmer", so why isn't there an un before granjero?
In Spanish, you don't use un or una when stating someone's profession after the verb ser (to be). You just say era granjero. You only add the article if you describe the profession further, like era un granjero trabajador (he was a hardworking farmer).
The sentence says en una granja, but the English translation says "on a small farm". Doesn't en mean "in"?
The Spanish preposition en is very flexible and can translate to "in", "on", or "at" depending on the context. For locations like a farm, en is the correct word, even though English uses "on".

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