Whenever we talk about Spanish verbs we always say that the personal pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos) are very often not used in standard sentences. Their use is generally for extra emphasis, or contrast and also to clear up ambiguity or misunderstanding. This can happen in the third person between él, ella and usted for example and also usted is added at times to make an utterance sound more courteous.
When it comes to the Past Continuous Tense however, we find we have to say the first person singular pronoun yo a little more than usual for the simple reason that the form of the verb is exactly the same as in the third person singular. In other words Hablaba con el vecino could mean ‘I was talking to the neighbour’, ‘He was talking to the neighbour’, or ‘She was talking to the neighbour.’ Actually it can also mean ‘You were talking to the neighbour’ using the usted form of the verb as well!
Comments like that usually make students throw up their hands in horror and say: “How on earth are we supposed to know which one is which?”
The answer is always the same – the context gives us 90% (or more) of the clues. In the worst case of ambiguity in a real life situation we could always find ways of clarifying who is meant, by pointing if necessary!
Here is a small sample of writing using the Past Continuous Tense which hopefully demonstrates how in most cases the sense of the words indicates the identity of the person once that has been established.
Cuando yo era niña jugaba todos los días en el parque con mis amigas. Tenía un perro y me gustaba mucho andar con él a la playa. Mi madre cocinaba al mediodía y yo siempre volvía a casa para comer. La verdad es que nunca comía muy bien y mi madre se enfadaba mucho conmigo. No veía mucha televisión porque había pocos programas para niños y además pasaba mucho tiempo en la calle.
Mi padre trabajaba hasta tarde y cuando volvía a casa por la noche me sentaba con él para contarle mis cosas. Mientras tanto mi madre recogía la cocina y preparaba todo para el día siguiente. Siempre iba a la cama a la misma hora y leía un libro debajo de las mantas antes de dormir. Mi hermana dormía en el mismo dormitorio pero normalmente no la oía entrar porque ya estaba durmiendo profundamente.
This is something for you to think about until next month when I will translate it and pick up any details for comments.