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El año pasado fui al laboratorio con una beca.

El año pasado fui al laboratorio con una beca.
Last year I went to the laboratory with a scholarship.
From Lesson 211:Continuing actions (seguir)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about El año pasado fui al laboratorio con una beca.

Why do we use the preterite fui here instead of the imperfect iba?
We use fui, the preterite (simple past) of ir, because the phrase el año pasado (last year) sets a specific, completed timeframe. If we were setting the scene like "I was going to the lab when...", we would use the imperfect iba.
How do we know fui means "I went" and not "I was"?
The verbs ir (to go) and ser (to be) share the exact same forms in the preterite tense. You can tell them apart by the context: here, the contraction al (a + el, meaning "to the") points to movement toward a place, so it has to be ir.
Why does año pasado need the article el in front of it?
In English, we just say "last year," but Spanish requires the definite article (el or la) for specific time phrases. This is also why you say el lunes for "on Monday" or la semana que viene for "next week."
Does beca always mean "scholarship"?
Beca is a broad term for financial aid related to education or research. Depending on the exact context, it can translate to a scholarship, a grant, or an academic fellowship.

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