Learn Spanish (Spain): Anduvimos por el descampado ayer por la tarde. - We walked through the vacant lot yesterday afternoon.

Andar (to walk) has a highly irregular preterite tense. While most -ar verbs use -amos for both the present and the preterite nosotros form, andar takes a special "uv" stem in the past: anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron. So andamos means "we walk" (present), but anduvimos means "we walked" (preterite).

Why use por here instead of a través de or en for "through"?

When describing movement, por commonly means "through," "around," or "along" a general space. While a través de also translates to "through," it usually emphasizes physically crossing an obstacle from one side to the exact opposite. Andar por el descampado just implies walking around or through the general area of the vacant lot without focusing on the starting and ending points.

What exactly is a descampado?

A descampado is an open, unbuilt, and uncultivated piece of land, usually in or near an urban area. It translates best to a "vacant lot," "wasteland," or "empty field." You can see its root in the word campo (field or countryside).

Why is it ayer por la tarde and not ayer de la tarde?