Choose the correct imperfect tense form of the verb 'hablar' for the subject 'él' to complete the sentence: 'Cuando era niño, él ____ con sus amigos.'

Choose the correct imperfect tense form of the verb 'hablar' for the subject 'él' to complete the sentence: 'Cuando era niño, él ____ con sus amigos.'

• A. hablaba
• B. hablaste
• C. hablaban
• D. hablamos

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is forming the imperfect tense of an -ar verb for a singular third-person subject to express a habitual action in the past. With -ar verbs, the imperfect endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For él, the ending is -aba, giving hablaba. So the sentence becomes: Cuando era niño, él hablaba con sus amigos. This uses the past habitual sense indicated by “Cuando era niño” and matches the subject él. The other forms don’t fit because they come from different persons or tenses: hablaste is the tú form in the preterite; hablaban is the ellos/ellas/ustedes imperfect form (plural); hablamos is the nosotros form (present or preterite).

The main idea here is forming the imperfect tense of an -ar verb for a singular third-person subject to express a habitual action in the past. With -ar verbs, the imperfect endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For él, the ending is -aba, giving hablaba. So the sentence becomes: Cuando era niño, él hablaba con sus amigos. This uses the past habitual sense indicated by “Cuando era niño” and matches the subject él.

The other forms don’t fit because they come from different persons or tenses: hablaste is the tú form in the preterite; hablaban is the ellos/ellas/ustedes imperfect form (plural); hablamos is the nosotros form (present or preterite).