Preterite v. Imperfect for a period of time in the past.

If wanted to say “I lived in Peru from 2008 to 2012”, wouldn't that be preterite: “Viví en Perú desde 2008 hasta 2012”.  It has a very specific beginning and ending.  I ask because in 11.3 the speaker says they had an account from 2002 to 2006 and they use the imperfect, “tenía”.  They also say they lived in Chile from when they were born until they had their first child and use “vivía”.

Just curious.

Thanks!
Peter

I'm no expert, but I believe it has to do with living in that place being an ongoing process. If you stopped for a night at a hotel in Lima, I think that would be  “viví”, but since you were in the country for an extended period, “vivía” feels right to me.

I look forward to reading the answer from someone who knows more about this than I do!

¡Hola, Peter-nR y StanB-sweh!

You're right, Peter-nR: there is a problem in these sentences. When discussing a completed past action with a set start and finish,  you should use the preterite tense (el pretérito) — no matter how long or how short the duration of that action was. So, to be grammatically correct, these sentences should indeed use viví “(I) lived” and tuve “(I) had,” since the beginnings and endings of these actions are clearly indicated.

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention, and our apologies for the error! I will ask the Spanish team to look into this lesson so we can get this corrected. 

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Saludos,

Liss

¡Gracias, Liss! Acabo de aprender algo!

This isn't a question, because I'm still in Module 1 and I',m sure future lessons will explain it, but I'm looking forward to learning the distinctions vetween “aprendí algo” and “he aprendido algo”.

¡Gracias, Liss!  If I find other potential issues, are the forums the right place to bring them up, or is there some other means to alert the team?

Thank!
Peter

¡Hola de neuvo!

I'm glad that was helpful for you, StanB-sweh! :) You'll start to dive into past tenses in Level 2; since that's still a little ways away, it may be useful to keep in mind for now that the past tense el pretérito lines up pretty nicely with the English past simple (so aprendí algo = “(I) learned something”) and el pretérito perfecto is like the English present perfect (so he aprendido algo = “(I) have learned something”). I hope that provides you with a little clarity until the lessons on those tenses come along! :)

As for your question, Peter-nR, thanks very much for asking! If you spot something that you feel quite sure is an error, then it's generally best to contact our Customer Service team, whom you can reach at support@rocketlanguages.com. They will be able to make sure that the problem gets sorted out in the most timely fashion! But if you're unsure or if you simply have a language-related question, then we absolutely encourage you to post here on the forums, so that other learners can chime in and benefit from the answer too. 

Saludos,

Liss