What you were doing when…

estaba …-ndo

was doing it· tap the form for the whole table

Say these out loud

Why it works

Two things at once: the long one is imperfect, the short one preterite.

Estaba en el metro (long) cuando me llamó (short).

The word cuando usually sits between them.

Why not estuve

estuve en el metro cuando me llamó

I was on the metro when he/she called me

Closes the metro ride as a finished block, so there is nothing left for the call to cut into.

In a full sentence

Estaba trabajando cuando falló el despliegue.
I was working when the deploy failed.
Estaba shows the ongoing action interrupted by the failure.
Hacía la compra cuando me escribió mi jefe.
I was shopping when my boss texted me.
Hacía describes what was already happening.
Iba al gimnasio cuando empezó a llover.
I was going to the gym when it started raining.
Iba gives the action in progress before the interruption.
Ella estaba en una reunión cuando llegó el aviso.
She was in a meeting when the alert arrived.
Estaba sets the background for the arriving alert.

5 gaps to fill, then 3 sentences from the English · say or type each one