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USES OF PRETERITE VS. IMPERFECT TENSES
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LISTEN
When speaking in Spanish about the past, you can use either the preterite
or the imperfect, depending on the meaning you want to express. Here is the basic difference between these two forms of past
tense.
USES OF PRETERITES
Preterite is used for actions in the past that are completed,
and to narrate specific events:
Julia habló con la maestra ayer
Julia talked to the teacher yesterday
Los muchachos jugaron fútbol la semana
pasada
The boys played soccer last week
Preterite is also used to give a sequence
of actions in the past:
Julia llegó a la escuela, habló con la maestra y fue
a la biblioteca
Julia arrived to school, talked to the teacher and went to the
library
Ellos entrenaron en el gimnasio el jueves y jugaron fútbol el viernes
They trained in the gym on Thursday and played soccer on Friday
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USES OF IMPERFECT
Imperfect tense is
used to describe continuing or incomplete actions in the past without saying when the action begins or ends:
Las chicas bailaban the girls were dancing
El perro
ladraba mucho the dog was barking a lot
Imperfect tense
is used to talk about actions that happened repeatedly in the past or something that you used to do as a matter of habit:
La señora Rojas comía mucho Mrs. Rojas used
to eat a lot
Lorena estudiaba todas las noche Lorena used to study
every night
Imperfect is used to talk about what people were doing when something else occurred
- when two or more actions took place at the same time:
Mientras Angie veía televisión,
Juan Alejandro estudiaba para el examen de Historia
While was watching TV, Juan Alejandro
was studying for the History exam
Imperfect tense is used to speak how old someone was, to say
what date and time it was when something else happened (preterite):
Yo tenía 19 años
cuando conocí a mi esposo
I was 19 years old when I met my husband
Eran
las 10 de la noche cuando llegó Carmen
It was 10:00PM when Carmen
arrived
Preterite and imperfect are used together when an action (preterite) interrupts another action
that is taking place (imperfect):
Yo hablaba con Mercedes cuando llamó Hernando
I was talking to Mercedes when Hernando called
Mientras Arturo caminaba en
el centro comercial, sonó el teléfono
While Arturo was walking in the mall, the
telephone rang
WORDS THAT ARE SUGGESTION FOR USING THE PRETERITE TENSE:
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Ayer yesterday
Anteayer the day before yesterday
Anoche
last night
La semana pasada last week
Hace una semana a week ago
El mes pasado last
month
Hace un mes a month ago
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El año pasado last
year
Hace un año a year ago
Una vez
once
Dos veces twice
Tres
veces three times... etc
De repente suddenly
En ese momento at that moment
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WORDS THAT ARE A SUGGESTION FOR USING THE IMPERFECT TENSE:
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Mientras while
Siempre always
Generalmente in
general
Normalmente normally
Usualmente
usually
A veces sometimes
Con frecuencia/frecuentemente often/frequently
De vez en cuando
once in a while
Todos los días/cada día
every day
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Todos los lunes/los lunes every
Monday
Todos los martes/los martes every Tuesday...
etc
Todas las semanas/cada semana every week
Todos los
meses/cada mes every month
Todos los años/cada año
every year
Todo el tiempo all
the time
En aquel tiempo at that time
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SPANISH VERBS WITH DIFFERENT MEANING DEPENDING ON WHICH PAST
TENSE IS USED
Conocer
Preterite: to meet
a person for the first time
Yo conocí a mi esposo en la universidad I
met my husband at the university
Imperfect: to know a person or place
Rubiela
conocía a su hermana muy bien Rubiela knew her sister very well
Poder
Preterite: to be able
Daniela pudo hacer el crucigrama
Daniela was able to do the crossword puzzle
Imperfect: could - possiblity
Andrea
podía entrar al cine gratis Andrea could get into the movie theater for free
Querer
Preterite: to try
Elena quiso estudiar
en la universidad Elena tried to study in the university
Imperfect: to want/to love
Elisa quería usar un vestido rojo Elena wanted to wear a red dress
No querer
Preterite: to refuse
Yo
no quise comprar la comida I refused to buy the food
Imperfect: not want
Marcos no quería ir a la fiesta Marcos did not want to go to the party
Saber
Preterite: to learn/to find out
Josefina
supo del paradero de su hijo Josefina found out the whereabouts of her son
Imperfect:
to know
Yo sabía cuando Hernando venía I knew when Hernando
was coming
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