4 Trigger words that signal IMPERFECT Tense PRETERITO IMPERFECTO "USED TO"” Flashcards

1
Q

Of the main three Spanish past tenses, the Spanish past imperfect can be the most problematic for Spanish students.

A

This is because the past imperfect tense, aiso known as the PRETÉRITO IMPERFECTO, is used for setting the scene, talking about habitual behaviour in the past, for descriptions of things and people, and in combination with the pretérito indefinido to accurately describe the placement of events.

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2
Q

Notice the arrows for the imperfect tense. These arrows signify that actions that occur in the past imperfect tense don’t have a well defined start and end time.

A

Typically the English phrase ‘I used to…’ will call for the past imperfect when translated to Spanish.

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3
Q

If you said ‘I used to shop a lot’, then the question would be when did the shopping habit start and when did it stop?

A

All you know from the statement is that the shopping habit occurred for an undefined timeframe. It could have been a problem that lasted for months, years, or decades. This means that the Spanish past imperfect tense should be used in this context.

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4
Q

The ‘phrase triggers’ below imply an undefined start and end time for a past event, therefore naturally triggering the use of the Spanish past

A

The other phrase that you could add to the end of almost all of the examples is “ya no” which is ‘now (no/not)’. For example, ‘we used to go to the swimming pool a lot, now we don’t’.

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5
Q
  1. ALWAYS - SIEMPRE
A

If you wanted to talk about something that ‘always’ used to happen, you will need to use the past imperfect.

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6
Q

We always used to watch television after dinner.

A

Siempre veíamos la televisión después de la cena.
Siempre miramos TV después de cenar. (Reverso)

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7
Q

I always used to go to bed early during the week.

A

Siempre me acostaba temprano entre semana.

Siempre me acostaba temprano durante la semana.

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8
Q
  1. ALMOST ALWAYS — CASI SIEMPRE
A

Closely related to the first phrase trigger, this time you are talking about things that happened ‘almost always’.

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9
Q

They almost always arrived late to work.

A

Ellos casi siempre llegaban tarde al trabajo.

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10
Q

She almost always used to call me when I was busy.

A

Ella casi siempre me llamaba cuando estaba ocupada.

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11
Q
  1. EVERYDAY, – EVERY WEEK. – EVERY MONTH,

TODOS LOS DIAS, –TODAS LAS SEMANAS, –TODOS LOS MESES…

A

This third phrase trigger is again related to the idea of always, and doesn’t give an indication of start and end moments for the action.

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12
Q

I used to do exercise everyday.

A

Hacía ejercicio todos los días.

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13
Q

My friends and I used to eat dinner every friday night in town.

A

Mis amigos y yo cenábamos cada viernes por la noche en el centro.

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14
Q
  1. USUALLY – NORMALMENTE
A

You could also talk about things you usually used to do.

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15
Q

I usually used to practice my Spanish before lunch.

A

Normalmente practicaba mi español antes del almuerzo.

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16
Q

Did you normally /(usually) – spend a lot of time with your friends from school?

A

¿Normalmente pasabas mucho tiempo con tus amigos del colegio?

17
Q
  1. FREQUENTLY – CON FREQUENCIA
A

Similarly you can mention the things you used to do frequently.

18
Q

My siblings and I used to go frequently to the football.

A

Mis hermanos y yo íbamos al fútbol con frecuencia.

19
Q

We frequently used to eat more dessert than we were allowed.

A

Comíamos con frecuencia más postres de los que estaban permitidos.

20
Q
  1. OFTEN – A MENUDO
A

Another similar phrase trigger for the past imperfect is things you used to do often.

21
Q

There often used to be (use “haber” había) big parties at my cousin’s (pl) house.

A

A menudo había grandes fiestas en la casa de mis primos.

22
Q

We often used to tell each other stories.

A

A menudo nos contábamos historias.

23
Q
  1. SOMETIMES – A VECES
A

The pattern of phrase triggers is hopefully obvious by now. We are stepping slowly from always to never. Here is how to talk about things we sometimes used to do:

24
Q

When I was young I sometimes went to the beach with my best friend.

A

Cuando era pequeño, a veces iba a la playa con mi mejor amigo.

25
Q

My father sometimes used to travel for his work.

A

Mi padre a veces viajaba por su trabajo.

26
Q
  1. ALMOST NEVER – CASI NUNCA
A

Here are some examples of things you may have almost never done.

27
Q

We almost never went to my grandparents house.

A

Casi nunca íbamos a la casa de mis abuelos.

28
Q

I almost never used to get up before 8am.

A

Casi nunca me levantaba antes de las ocho.

29
Q

NEVER

A

The last phrase trigger that will help to remember to use the past imperfect is:
NUNCA

30
Q

I never used to like mushrooms, but now I do.

A

Nunca me gustaban (mushrooms plural to verb “gustar)” champiñones, pero ahora sí.

31
Q

We never used to go to the mountains, we always stayed in the city.

A

Nunca íbamos a las montañas, siempre nos quedábamos en la ciudad.