I'm gonna throw down the guantlet to all you fluent Spanish speakers out there...! My Spanish teacher used the above tense the other day and it is a use of the continuous form of the verb that I've never heard of before. I know for example 'estoy comiendo' 'and estaba comiendo' but I didn't realise you could also say' estuve comiendo'. There was no time for me after the class to ask for an explanation but when I got home I rushed to look it up in my grammer book. However,the explanation given there has left me puzzled. Can any of you give me a few examples of how the continuous preterite is used? I really would appreciate getting the use of this form clear in my head.! Many thanks;

Preterite continuous (estuve hablando) is used when action was prolonged but finished in the past. So it is often translated for Past Perfect 'had drunk'. Whatever happened next in these examples, the 'drinking' and 'reading' has already finished.

Nota c�mo el verbo puede cambiar en el 'past perfect' cuando se entiende que la acci�n ha terminado (ej. con pret�rito perfecto compuesto (yo estuve andando)

We had drunk a lot that day

Estuvimos bebiendo mucho aquel d�a.

I had been reading the whole morning

Estuve leyendo toda la ma�ana

I think the mention of a time frame (that day, the whole morning)is key, showing that the action is finished.

OK, so I pasted it in from a Spanish grammar site, which see:
http://www.englishspanishlink.com
I admit, even though I taught Spanish for 15 years, that I don't ever recall running across this one! The site does look useful...

Sue, thank you very much for your help on this and for the link to website which in itself looks interesting. I do not know how common the preterite continuous is in spoken Spanish but my teacher told me I should use it as it will make me sound less like a foreigner;

Hey all, not sure how this one got by me but I wanted to pop in and help out.

Sue, even if you took it from that site, your post was a huge help to LarryLasagne, thanks

LarryLasagne, I do not hear that tense often amongst the "general population" but your teacher is right in that using it is good practice.

The preterite continuous is used as Sue explained above and it is also important to note that there is another form of expressing the same meaning which is more commonly used in spoken Spanish (from my experience).

It is the use of the "pluscuamperfecto de indicativo" (don't mean to overwhelm you with this technical terminology) which in normal terms is a form of the helping verb "haber" + "estado" + the gerund form of the action verb.

For example, using Sue's examples above, I have added the alternative using the "pluscuamperfecto de indicativo" in parenthesis below the phrases...

Estuvimos bebiendo mucho aquel d�a.
� (Hab�amos estado bebiendo mucho aquel d�a)

I had been reading the whole morning
� (Hab�a estado leyendo toda la ma�ana)

Since the pluscuamperfecto de indicativo has a more standard structure (form of haber + estado + gerund of action verb), it is often easier for learners of Spanish to grasp and use than the preterite continuous and its often hard to use verb conjugations (irregulars and such ).

The two forms below are acceptable and will make you look like a pro ...

1) Estuvimos bebiendo mucho aquel d�a.

2) Hab�amos estado bebiendo mucho aquel d�a

True that it is best to learn both ways

Saludos & Suerte,
jer...

This verb form is mostly resticted to certain parts of Mexico. I like using it to throw people off, since it is not common usage.

Shawn

Jer, thanks very much for your input on this. I agree that the pluscuamperfecto de indicativo would be easier to use. I suppose in a situation where I know it makes sense to use that form I could always try to switch to the preterite continuous (depending on whether or not I've been down the pub that day ). Redwood, my teacher is actually from Mexico, Oaxaca to be exact. Amongst other things, she's taught me that 'piso' in Mexico translates as 'departamento'!