EL IMPERFECTO VS. EL PRETERITO

When to use them

and what they can mean

“used to” = IMPERFECT

Conjugate any action in the imperfect to mean that someone used to do something on a regular basis.

You will often precede this use of the imperfect with an expression like de pequño or de niño.

“was/were –ing” = IMPERFECT

You will usually use this meaning when you want to set up a scene and when some other action is going to interrupt the “-ing” action.

For example: I was reading peacefully when an anvil fell on my head.

time and weather = IMP

No debates here: if you’re talking about what time it was (a specific time, late, morning, early, evening, whatever!) it will automatically be the imperfect.

Anything weather related – unless you give a specific time period – is the imperfect.

example Son las diez y veinte. / Eran las diez y veinte.

example Nieva. (now) / Nevaba (past).

physical, mental, emotional = IMPERFECT

PHYSICAL talking about how someone was feeling – estar (sick, well, tired, etc.)

MENTAL wanting something, knowing something, thinking something

EMOTIONAL being sad, happy, confused, scared

describing a person, place, or situation in past = IMPERFECT

When you are describing someone or something using an adjective in the past, you will usually use the imperfect. e.g. My grandmother’s house was big and pink.

La casa de mi abuela era grande y rosada. e.g. My teacher was nice.

Mi profesora era simpática.

imperfect verbs

These verbs are almost always imperfect: estar to be parecer to seem pensar / creer to think querer to want sentirse to feel (REFLEXIVE

REFLEXIVE) tener used with certain expressions

(calor, frío, hambre, sed, sueño, etc P. 237)

PRETERITE = completed action in the past

An action that happened and is over with. e.g. I ate breakfast. (Breakfast is over.)

PRETERITE = interrupted action

Somebody was doing something WHEN something happened. e.g. We were taking notes when a space ship

landed outside.

preterite verbs

These verbs are almost always preterite: empezar / comenzar to start terminar to end llegar to arrive entrar to enter salir to leave / to exit despertarse to wake up acostarse to go to bed

HABÍA vs. HUBO

había is imperfect version of “hay”

Use había when you want to describe what there was or what there were in a particular situation. No había tarea ayer. Había muchas personas

en la fiesta.

hubo is the preterite version of “hay”

Use hubo to say that something happened or occurred. You will put it before the event that happened or occurred. Hubo una explosión en

el edificio. Hubo un terremoto

terrible en California.

Sum up…

In general, think about the imperfect and the preterite like this: Preterite: Used for completed actions in

the past. The actions was done and over with.

Imperfect: Used for ongoing or continuous actions or states in the past. These often have no specific beginning or end.