Es verdad que Rodolfo es un gato único. Cuando (tener) dos años y medio y (llegar) a nuestra casa, (ser) gordo y bonito. (Poder)
correr muy rápido y aún subir a los árboles, donde le (encantar) observar los pájaros (birds). Año tras (after) año nos (dar) sorpresas. Por ejemplo, normalmente (tomar) agua de su tazón, pero un día ¡la (tomar) del inodoro (toilet)! Casi siempre (dormir) en el sótano, en el sofá, pero una noche (dormir) afuera, en el jardín. Allí (conocer) a Gitana (Gypsy), su gata favorita. Unos días más tarde, nos (dar) otra sorpresa: ¡ (Comerse) el jamón de mi sándwich! Cuando yo (entrar) en la cocina y lo (descubrir), ¡el "delincuente" (salir) corriendo de la casa! Allí (ver) a Gitana y los dos (escaparse). (Regresar) a casa ¡tres días más tarde! Ahora tenemos una pareja de gatos durmiendo junto a la chimenea y probablemente una familia por venir.
It is true that Rodolfo is a unique cat. When (being) two and a half years old and (arriving) at our house, (being) fat and pretty. (Power) run very fast and still climb trees, where you (love) to watch the birds (birds). Year after (after) year we (give) surprises. For example, normally (drinking) water from your bowl, but one day the (drinking) the toilet! Almost always (sleeping) in the basement, on the sofa, but one night (sleeping) outside, in the garden. There (meet) Gitana (Gypsy), her favorite cat. A few days later, we (give) another surprise: (Eat) the ham of my sandwich! When I (enter) in the kitchen and (discover), the "offender" (leave) running from the house! There (see) Gitana and the two (escape). (Return) home three days later! Now we have a couple of cats sleeping by the fireplace and probably a family to come.
The Simple Preterite indicates an enunciated action that is considered finished. It applies to actions completed in the past that are not necessarily related to the factual status of the present situation.
It is used in Spanish to express: actions that take place at a certain moment in the past in a timely manner or a new action that occurs in the past and that interrupts a course of action that was already in progress and that is expressed in the past tense.
On the other hand, the imperfect past tense of the indicative is a frequent tense in Romance languages. It describes an action or state in the past whose time limits are not relevant, that is, a grammatical time of the past with a grammatical aspect. It is used in Spanish to express courses of past actions whose beginning and end are not specified.
