In the following, underline the correct past tense. So, the preterite and imperfect

Los estudiantes ( tomaban/tomaron) apuntes mientras la profesora ( hablaba/hablo)

Would it be tomaban and hablo

I'm sorry, but our Spanish expert is ill and away from her computer for another couple of weeks. It's possible, though, that another person may see your post and help.

To determine the correct past tense forms in this sentence, we need to understand the difference between the preterite and imperfect tenses in Spanish.

The preterite tense is used to express completed actions that happened at a specific point in the past. On the other hand, the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, actions without a specific endpoint, or background information.

Let's analyze the sentence:

"Los estudiantes (tomaban/tomaron) apuntes mientras la profesora (hablaba/habló)."

Here, we have two actions: "tomar apuntes" (to take notes) and "hablar" (to speak). We need to decide whether these actions were ongoing or completed.

Since there is no specific endpoint given, and the sentence suggests a habitual action (students taking notes), we use the imperfect tense for "tomaban."

Therefore, the correct form for "Los estudiantes (tomaban/tomaron) apuntes" is "Los estudiantes tomaban apuntes."

Now let's consider the second part of the sentence: "mientras la profesora (hablaba/habló)."

This action does not have any ongoing or habitual context. It suggests a specific point in the past when the teacher was speaking. Therefore, we use the preterite tense.

The correct form for "la profesora (hablaba/habló)" is "la profesora habló."

In conclusion, the correct past tense forms for the sentence are:

"Los estudiantes tomaban apuntes mientras la profesora habló."