Spanish preterite vs. imperfect

Question

Hi I got a few wrong on my Spanish quiz. Can you please look what I've put below and tell me what I did incorrectly and what it should be - thanks

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the preterite tense. 

Nosotros ________ (andar) por dos horas pero nunca nos acercamos al bosque. 

I put andamos

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the preterite tense. 

Alana me __________(decir) que no puede venir a la fiesta. 

I put decimos

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the preterite tense. 

Yo ____________ (pagar) $5 por una taza de café en Starbucks. 

I put page

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the imperfect tense. 

¿Uds. _____________ (querer) algo de comer?

I put querias

Answer 1

1. Nosotros __anduvimos (andar) por dos horas pero nunca nos acercamos al bosque. 

2.Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the preterite tense. 

Alana me ___dijo (decir) que no puede venir a la fiesta. 

Third person-singular conjugation of the verb 'decir" in the preterite tense is 'ella me dijo..."

3.Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the preterite tense. 

Yo _pagué (pagar) $5 por una taza de café en Starbucks. 

4.Conjugate the verb in parenthesis in the imperfect tense. 

¿Uds. __querían (querer) algo de comer?

Answer 2

1) Nosotros anduvimos : Andar, just like Tener and Estar, is an irregular verb in the preterite tense that changes its conjugations in the preterite to have endings like -uve, -uvo, -uviste, and -uvieron

Here's are its conjugations for the preterite tense: Yo - Anduve, Tú - Anduviste, Él/Ella/Usted - Anduvo, Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes - Anduvieron

2) Alana me dijo: (Alana told me) Decir is an irregular verb in preterite, but not quite like Tener and Estar, and the rest of those -uv verbs. It changes to include a 'j' in each of its preterite conjugations. Here's are its conjugations: Yo - Dije, Tú - Dijiste, Él/Ella/Usted - Dijo, Nosotros - Dijimos, Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes - Dijeron

3) For this one, you had the right idea, but forgot that, in Spanish, every time that the letter 'g' precedes the letter 'e', it becomes an english 'h' sound. Therefore, saying "page" would be like saying "pa-heh". Phonetically, this sounds strange to native speakers. To maintain the same sound 'g' as the infinitive, Pagar, a 'u' is added in the preterite "yo" form. Therefore, the correct conjugation is: "Pagué"

4) Here, the abbreviation Uds. refers to "ustedes", and so the accompanying verb must be plural as well. "Querías" would be the "tú" imperfect form of Querer. The correct conjugation is the plural imperfect conjugation, which has an 'n' instead of an 's': "Querían"