Telling stories

Narrate the past and connect events with time words

Goal: Tell a story in the past using the preterite, imperfect and connectors like 'entonces', 'después' and 'de repente'.

Context

Listen to the dialogue. Tap the speaker to hear each line.

Ana

¿Qué te pasó ayer? Cuéntame.

What happened to you yesterday? Tell me.

Luis

Bueno, primero fui al banco y después a la oficina.

Well, first I went to the bank and then to the office.

Ana

¿Y qué pasó después?

And what happened then?

Luis

Cuando salía del banco, de repente empezó a llover.

When I was leaving the bank, suddenly it started to rain.

Ana

¡Qué mala suerte! Entonces, ¿qué hiciste?

What bad luck! So, what did you do?

Luis

Entonces corrí a la oficina y llegué empapado.

So I ran to the office and arrived soaked.

Practice the dialogue

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Vocabulary

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entonces

Entonces corrí a la oficina.

'Entonces' means 'so' or 'then' to connect the next step of a story.

so / then

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después

Primero fui al banco y después a la oficina.

then / after

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de repente

De repente empezó a llover.

'De repente' = suddenly. Use it for the surprise moment in a story.

suddenly

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primero

Primero fui al banco.

'Primero', 'después', 'luego', 'finalmente' order any story.

first

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cuando

Cuando salía del banco, empezó a llover.

when

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empezó

Empezó a llover.

'Empezar a + infinitive' = to start doing something.

it started

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corrí

Corrí a la oficina.

I ran

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me pasó

¿Qué te pasó?

'Pasar' + pronoun: 'me pasó' = it happened to me, 'te pasó' = to you.

it happened to me

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la suerte

¡Qué mala suerte!

'¡Qué mala suerte!' = What bad luck! 'Suerte' is always luck.

luck

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llegué

Llegué empapado.

I arrived

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empapado

Me mojé y llegué empapado.

soaked

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contar

Cuéntame qué pasó.

'Contar' = to tell. 'Cuéntame' = tell me.

to tell (a story)

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Grammar in 1 minute

Narrating with preterite + imperfect

Tell a story by mixing the two past tenses: use the imperfect for the scene (was doing) and the preterite for the actions that move the story forward.

Cuando salía del banco (imperfect), de repente empezó a llover (preterite). Entonces corrí a la oficina.

'Cuando + imperfect + preterite' is the classic pattern: 'when I was X, Y happened'.

Connectors to sequence events

Use 'primero' (first), 'después' (then), 'entonces' (so/then), 'de repente' (suddenly) and 'finalmente' (finally) to structure a clear story.

Primero fui al banco, después a la oficina. De repente empezó a llover. Entonces corrí y finalmente llegué.

'Entonces' at the start of a sentence means 'so then' — it both orders events and shows consequence.

Interactive practice

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What started suddenly?

Listen and choose the correct option.

listening

Tip: 'De repente empezó a llover' = suddenly it started to rain.

What happened suddenly?

Start the story

Write the connector meaning 'first' to start the story (accents optional).

writing

Tip: 'Primero' = first. It starts an ordered list of events.

fui al banco y después a la oficina.

Accents optional: write "como estas" and it works.

Match connectors

Connect each Spanish connector with its English meaning.

reading

Tip: These connectors order time in a story. Learn them as a set.

Tell the story out loud

Listen, pause and repeat the mini-story.

speaking

Tip: Pause slightly after each connector: primero... después... de repente...

Primero fui al banco. Después, de repente, empezó a llover. Entonces corrí a la oficina.

First I went to the bank. Then, suddenly, it started to rain. So I ran to the office.

Listen, pause and repeat out loud. Repeat 3 times until it sounds natural.

Great. Repeat tomorrow to lock it in.

Pronunciation trainer

Write a short story

Write two linked past events using 'después' or 'entonces'.

writing

Tip: Pattern: 'Primero + preterite, después + preterite.' Keep it to two clauses.

Write two past events connected by 'después' or 'entonces', in Spanish.

Suggested answer: Primero compré el pan y después fui a casa.

What did he do then?

Listen and choose what Luis did next.

listening

Tip: 'Entonces corrí a la oficina' = So I ran to the office.

What did Luis do after it started raining?

The surprise word

Write the connector meaning 'suddenly' (accents optional).

writing

Tip: 'De repente' signals the surprising moment. It has two words.

Cuando salía del banco, empezó a llover.

Accents optional: write "como estas" and it works.

Final quiz

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