Distinguishing between hubo and había

Question

There is no explanation either in hubo or había as to how to decide when to use which one. The examples given could almost be interchangeable, at least to my novice eye. (Other than that, this program is absolutely amazing! Hats off to everyone involved!)

Answer

Hola Catriona
These two lessons about Había and Hubo are focused on the "form" more than specific uses, that's why we have used quite neutral sentences. As a general rule we would use "había" (not hubo) when we are describing a scene in the past or for a repeated action in the past, whereas we will use "hubo" (not había) for more punctual actions also in the past. You will soon have some more lessons about specific uses for the imperfect and preterite tenses.
Thanks for your lovely comments : ))

Answer

Just ran into this again, and got it wrong again, even after your explanation. I put hubo instead of hacía for "There was a meeting at four." One of the examples for hubo is "There were many people at the demonstration." I honestly cannot see the difference between these two sentences in this regard.

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I totally agree!

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I found this explanation and it makes a bit more sense: http://preguntolandia.blogspot.com/2010/05/hubo-vs-habia.html

Answer

Hola Catriona
We have a specific lesson on the difference between hubo and había where we explain when to use one or the other,  Había vs Hubo
Saludos 
Inma

Answer

Hola JessicaThis lesson is specific for the difference between hubo and había. I hope this clarifies it for you.https://spanish.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/habia-vs-hubo-imperfect-vs-preteriteSaludosInma