(Fueron/Eran) las doce.
2 answers:
(Eran) las doce. ►imperfect, background information
It was twelve o'clock.
(Había) mucha gente en la calle. ►imperfect, background information
There were lots of people on the street.
A las doce y media, Tomás y yo (entramos) en el restaurante Tárcoles. ► preterite, only once
At half past twelve, Tomás and I entered at the Tárcoles restaurant.
Todos los días yo (almorzaba) con Tomás al mediodía. ►imperfect, background information
Every day I had lunch with Thomas at noon.
El camarero (llegó) inmediatamente con el menú. ► preterite, only once
The waiter arrived immediately with the menu.
Nosotros (empezamos) a leerlo. ► preterite, only once
We started to read it.
Yo (pedí) el pescado. ► preterite, only once
I ordered the fish.
De repente, el camarero (volvió) a nuestra mesa. ► preterite, only once
Suddenly, the waiter returned to our table.
Y nos (dio) una mala noticia. ► preterite, only once
And he gave us bad news.
Desafortunadamente, no (tenían) más pescado. ►imperfect, background information
Unfortunately, they had no more fish.
Por eso Tomás y yo (decidimos) comer en otro lugar. ► preterite, only once
That's why Tomás and I decided to eat somewhere else.
(Llovía) cuando (salimos) del restaurante.► imperfect , preterite
It was raining when we left the restaurant.
Así que (regresamos) al restaurante Tárcoles. ► preterite, only once
So we return to the Tárcoles restaurant.
Esta vez, (pedí) arroz con pollo.► preterite, only once
This time, I ordered rice with chicken.
Explanation: whether the action happened only once, and it is considered finished, we use the preterite tense. Whether we are providing background information, we use the imperfect, because the imperfect sets the scene for a series of actions.
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