How to tell a story about your past in Spanish
Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz.
“We were having dinner when suddenly the power went out.”
When: The turning point of your story
The moment
You are in the sobremesa after a long Sunday lunch in Madrid, plates still on the table. Someone asks you about the strangest thing that ever happened to you, and you tell the whole story.
B1 · Unit 2 · Stories & feelings
The lines
Scene first, then the bang
Spanish paints the background with the imperfect and drops the event in the preterite, hinged on cuando: "Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz." That hinge is the engine of every story.
Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz.
“We were having dinner when suddenly the power went out.”
When to use it: The turning point of your story
What you’ll hear back: ¿En serio? ¿Y qué hicisteis? (Seriously? And what did you all do?)
Landing the ending
Spaniards close a story with "total, que" plus how it ended: "Total, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa." It means roughly "so, long story short", and everyone knows the punchline is coming.
Total, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa.
“So in the end, we had dinner at my place.”
When to use it: The last line, once the story is told
What you’ll hear back: ¡Qué fuerte! Menuda noche. (No way! What a night.)
Words for this scene
| Spanish | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| en aquella época | en ah-KEH-yah EH-poh-kah | back then, at that time |
En aquella época yo vivía en Sevilla y no conocía a nadie. Back then I was living in Seville and I didn't know anybody. Tip: Sets the backdrop; the verbs after it stay in the imperfect. | ||
| al cabo de un rato | al KAH-boh deh oon RRAH-toh | after a while |
Al cabo de un rato apareció con dos cervezas y una linterna. After a while he turned up with two beers and a torch. Tip: Sounds more like a storyteller than a plain después. | ||
| No te lo vas a creer | noh teh loh bahs ah kreh-EHR | You're not going to believe it |
No te lo vas a creer, pero el camarero era mi vecino. You're not going to believe it, but the waiter was my neighbour. Tip: Drop it just before the twist; use tú form with friends. | ||
Your objective
Tell the story in order: where you were and what was happening, what suddenly went wrong, and how it ended.
- the setting
- what went wrong
- how it ended
Lines that get it done
- Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz.
- No te lo vas a creer, pero el camarero era mi vecino. · You're not going to believe it, but the waiter was my neighbour.
- Total, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa.
In the live scene the objective stays on screen, and the Replay afterwards says whether you got it done.
Check yourself
1. You were all having dinner when the lights suddenly went out. How do you say it?
- Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz.
- Estuvimos cenando cuando de repente se iba la luz.
- Cenábamos cuando de repente se iba la luz.
- Hemos cenado cuando de repente se fue la luz.
Show the answer
Estábamos cenando cuando de repente se fue la luz.
The background scene takes the imperfect and the sudden event takes the preterite.
2. You want to wrap up the story with how it all ended. Which opener do Spaniards use?
- Total, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa.
- Todo, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa.
- En total, que al final acabábamos cenando en mi casa.
- Total, que al final acabaremos cenando en mi casa.
Show the answer
Total, que al final acabamos cenando en mi casa.
Total, que is a fixed storytelling wrap-up, followed by the preterite for how it ended.
3. Which sentence correctly sets the backdrop of a story from years ago?
- En aquella época yo vivía en Sevilla.
- En aquella época yo viví en Sevilla.
- En aquella época yo he vivido en Sevilla.
- En aquella época yo estaba viviendo Sevilla.
Show the answer
En aquella época yo vivía en Sevilla.
Background lives in the imperfect vivía, not the one-off viví.