SPANISH 1: Frusterated?

Question

Final exam, Spanish 1, AHHHHHHHHHHH

"They kept on singing all night"

What is the tense of this sentence?
Is this Indicative Imperfect tense or Indicative preterite?(past)

Why?

Thanks;
Daniel

Also, please help me understand how to translate it into spanish,
thanks

Answer 1

it's not a verb tense in Spanish...it's a "perifrasis verbal" ( a construction which is formed of at least two verb forms, the first of which is an auxiliary and the second an impersonal form of the verb, that is an infinitive, a gerund or a participle, which usually carries the most important meaning and denotes the imperfect, durative aspect of the action. Perifrasis verbales usually convey a meaning that cannot be conveyed with normal verb tenses or conjugations)...more specifically this is a "perifrasis de aspecto imperfectivo durativo" which means it indicates an action which is still developing...they are formed by the verbs seguir/continuar + gerund:
Ella sigue leyendo el periodico
or your sentence
Ellos siguieron cantando toda la noche

if it were imperfect it would say "Cantaban toda la noche" (They would/used to sing all night or They were singing all night)
if it were preterite it would say "Cantaron toda la noche" (They sang all night)

you don't have to trust me...have a look at these links http://www.amerschmad.org/spanish/gram/perifras.htm
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per%C3%ADfrasis_verbales#Clases_de_per.C3.ADfrasis_verbales
and good luck with your exam!!

Answer 2

THE PRETERIT

(Ellos) siguieron cantando toda la noche.

"estar" would be in the imperfect but other verbs (continuar, seguir, salir) would be in the preterite.

Por ejemplo (For example): Estaban cantando toda la noche. = They were singing all night.

You're learning that in Spanish ONE? WOW!

Answer 3

translation: Ellos continuaron (or siguieron) cantando toda la noche.
tense: no idea!

Answer 4

Kept on

Guardaron en cantar toda la noche