Eran las ocho cuando catalina y elena (1) para ir al centro. elena (2) cuando daniel la (3) para decir que estaba listo. le (4) otra vez que la cita (5) a las diez y media. ellas (6) a las nueve y media. todavía era temprano y (7) tiempo. elena (8) mientras catalina (9) las indicaciones para llegar. había mucho tráfico cuando (10) el puente. no (11) el edificio de oficinas porque (12) perdidas. (13) muchas vueltas y por fin (14) . ya eran las once menos cuarto. ¡pero no (15) nadie allí!

1. se levantaron

2. desayunaba

3. llamó

4. dijo

5. era

6. salieron

7. había

8. conducía

9. leía

10. cruzaron

11. vieron

12. estaban

13. dieron

14. llegaron

15. había

Explanation:

1. It was eight when Catalina and Elena woke up to go to the center.

The time reference eran las ocho indicates this action happened in the morning so the verb we choose is levantarse. When it comes to the tense we should use, we consider again the time reference which indicates the precise time an action was executed. Hence we use the preterito.

2. Elena was having breakfast

3. when Daniel called to say he was ready.

In the sentence number one we used the verb desayunar meaning to have breakfast. The verbal tense we preferred here is the imperfecto. It is a descriptive tense and it is used to illustrate background action, the one that introduces central action, which is expressed with the verb 3.

Central actions are introduced with the preterito. It is used as a focus, as it gives importance to the action expressed by it. It usually has a precise time reference that indicates when the action was executed. Here it is the entire temporal clause Elena desayunaba that serves as a reference in time.

4. He told her again

5. that the date was at 10:30.

There is no time reference to justify the form of the verb decir but what we can see is that this sentence is the Spanish reported speech. Since we need to report somebody's words in the past, we use the introducing verb in the past tense. The verb decir has an irregular base for the preterito: DIJ-.

In the reported sentence we used the verb ser in the imperfecto. This so because of the sequence of tenses. In the direct speech, this part would be in the presente, and as for the reported speech, the Spanish rule of the sequence of tenses indicates that all presente becomes imperfecto. Ser conjugates in the imperfecto using the ER- base and the endings for the first (-AR) group present.

6. They went out at 9:30.

In this sentence we used the verb salir meaning to go out in the third person plural of the preterito. This form describes a simple, executed action that started and finished. It is an entirely executed action, and the use of the preterito is also justified by the time reference that specifies it: at 9:30.

7. It was still early and there was still time.

The Spanish verb haber is the equivalent of the English structure there is/there are. We used it here in the form of imperfecto as it illustrates circumstantial, background information. This is a descriptive sentence, it creates suspense until important actions are narrated.

8. Ellena was driving

9. while Catalina was giving instructions to reach the destination.

These two actions illustrated by the verbs conducir and leer happened simultaneously. We see that from the conjunction mientras which introduces the imperfecto. This type of action is used to define the background of the action, continuing in the same manner as the last sentence.

10. There was a lot of traffic when they crossed the bridge.

In this example we have one use of the imperfecto, había, to prepare the background for the main action: cruzaron. The preterito is here conditioned buy a time reference - the temporal clause. The main information is the crossing of the bridge, while the thick traffic is simply referential and could be left out.

11. They didn't see the office building

12. because they were lost.

This sentence gives the perfect example of circumstantial information used in service of the main information which is action. The main information illustrated by the verb ver is caused by the background information expressed by the verb estar. The important thing is that they didn't see the building, and the reason behind it is the fact that they were lost. Central vs. Background information.

13. They took many turns

14. until they finally came.

This sentence illustrates two consecutive actions that happened one after another. They bear the same type of information so the difference in importance is deleted. When we want to account on two or more executed actions having the same degree of importance, we use the preterito.

15. It was 11:15 already. But no one was there!

In this last sentence the verb haber gives information on what the girls caught on their arrival. It describes the condition of the room where the meeting was being held at. It doesn't account on any action, only background information and we get the feeling that some action is about to emerge. The text ends in suspense.