The Adelitas: Women in the Mexican Revolution – Verb Tense Practice

Complete the text with the correct past tense form of the verbs in parentheses.

As in most wars, women participated, but they and their stories have been pushed into the background...

1. Acción terminada en el pasado → simple past.
2. Verbo regular: participate → participated.

Women fed soldiers at camps...

1. Feed es irregular: feed – fed – fed.
2. Acción repetida en el pasado → simple past.

...and often took care of each others' children...

1. Take es irregular: take – took – taken.
2. Acción habitual en el pasado → simple past.

...and took over male jobs such as farming.

1. Mismo verbo irregular take.
2. Acción puntual en el pasado → simple past.

Women picked up guns as well...

1. Verbo regular: pick → picked.
2. Acción terminada → simple past.

...while their men were off fighting somewhere else...

1. Be en pasado: was / were.
2. Sujeto plural men → were.

...or because they were motivated to join one of the factions.

1. Be en pasado con sujeto they → were.
2. Describe un estado en el pasado.

It's an image made famous by Mexican photographer Agustín Victor Casasola...

1. Make es irregular: make – made – made.
2. Participio pasado en voz pasiva (was made famous).

...and others who spent years documenting the fighting...

1. Spend es irregular: spend – spent – spent.
2. Acción durativa terminada → simple past.

The image has some basis in reality as Adelitas were almost always poor...

1. Be en pasado con sujeto plural Adelitas → were.
2. Estado habitual en el pasado.

...in rural areas, where fighting was heavy.

1. Be en pasado con sujeto singular fighting → was.
2. Descripción de una situación pasada.

There are a number of claims that the original Adelita was a military nurse...

1. Be en pasado con sujeto singular Adelita → was.
2. Identificación en el pasado.

...by the name of Adela Velardo Pérez, who ran away from home at the age of 14...

1. Run es irregular: run – ran – run.
2. Acción puntual en el pasado → simple past.

...to join the Cruz Blanca (White Cross), an organization that tended to wounded soldiers.

1. Verbo regular: tend → tended.
2. Acción habitual en el pasado → simple past.

In 1948, Velardo told the newspaper Excélsior...

1. Tell es irregular: tell – told – told.
2. Fecha específica → simple past.

...that the famous "Adelita" corrido had been composed by Sergeant Antonio del Río, who was in love with her...

1. Be en pasado con sujeto singular who (Antonio) → was.
2. Estado emocional en el pasado.

...but died before the two could marry.

1. Die es regular: die → died (simple past).
2. Can en pasado: could (habilidad/posibilidad).

Let's Reorient It

After having reviewed the origins and development of the Mexican Revolution, you are now going to read some testimonials of people who lived at the time or participated in the Mexican Revolution.

Respuesta orientativa: Esta sección es una transición. El estudiante ya estudió las causas y el desarrollo de la Revolución Mexicana y ahora leerá testimonios de primera mano (cartas, entrevistas, crónicas) de personas que vivieron o participaron en el conflicto. El objetivo es conectar los hechos históricos con las voces personales de la época.