Pues, (1) [era] (ser) martes, y yo (2) [caminaba] (caminar) por el parque. El sol (3) [brillaba] (brillar) y yo (4) [estaba] (estar) contento. Mientras (5) [seguía] (seguir) una senda por los árboles, de repente (6) [vi] (ver) a un hombre corriendo a la izquierda. Él (7) [tenía] (tener) algo en la mano. Yo (8) [traté] (tratar) de ver de dónde (9) [venía] (venir) y por qué (10) [corría] (correr) tan rápidamente. En el bosque (11) [vi] (ver) a una mujer; (12) [fui] (ir) hacia ella. Ella (13) [estaba] (estar) gritando, "Él me (14) [robó] (robar) la bolsa mientras yo (15) [leía] (leer)." Yo (16) [seguí] (seguir) al hombre por un rato, pero no (17) [pude] (poder) capturarlo. Yo (18) [llamé] (llamar) a la policía, y (19) [esperé] (esperar) quince minutos hasta que ellos (20) [llegaron] (llegar). 1. Imp: background description 2. Imp: background description 3. Imp: background description 4. Imp: background description 5. Imp: ongoing action with another action about to interrupt it 6. Pret: Action that interrupts a background action, moves the story along, and happens in the foreground 7. Imp: When I saw him, something was in his hand. It was in his hand before I saw him and continues to be in his hand. 8. Pret: Tried to. This is just a simple statement. There is no sense of something such as "while I was trying to." 9. Imp: He was still coming out of a particular location. 10. Imp: He was still running at the moment of observation. 11. Pret: There is a background situation happening of a man who is running with someone's purse. Then the observer sees a woman crying. This breaks into the foreground of the story. 12. Pret: This is the second in a series of actions. I saw; I went. 13. Imp: Past progressive usually calls for the imperfect. 14. Pret: one-time occurrence 15. Imp: Her being robbed (preterite), interrupted another ongoing action, that of her reading. 16. Pret: This is the first in a series of actions that occur once, happen in the foreground, and move the story along. The following actions are simple past and do not indicate an ongoing action. 17. Pret: 2nd in a series of actions 18. Pret: 3rd in a series of actions 19. Pret: 4th in a series of actions 20. Pret: 5th in a series of actions