Imperfect/Preterite Flashcards
Preterite AR endings
- é
- aste
- ó
- amos
- asteis
- aron
hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron
Imperfect AR endings
- aba
- abas
- aba
- ábamos
- abais
- aban
hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablabais, hablaban
When do you use the preterite tense?
When the past action had a definite beginning and end, and is seen as having been completed.
Juan habló de la una hasta las dos.
Juan spoke from one until two o’clock.
(clearly stated beginning and end)
Juan habló con la estudiante.
Juan spoke with the student.
(implied that action is complete)
Use the preterite tense for actions that ______
- can be viewed as single events
- were repeated a specific number of times
- occurred during a specific period of time
- were part of a chain of events
- state the beginning or the end of an action
Use the imperfect for _____
- actions that were repeated habitually
- actions that “set the stage” for another action
- telling time and stating one’s age
When do you use the imperfect tense?
When the action is seen as having no definite beginning or end, or was not completed.
Las chicas hablaban en inglés.
The girls used to speak in English.
(no definite beginning or end)
Words that signal the use of the preterite
indicate a specific time period, begin with a
ayer (yesterday) anteayer (the day before yesterday) anoche (last night) ayer por la mañana (yesterday morning) ayer por la tarde (yesterday afternoon)
Words that signal the use of the preterite
indicate a specific time period, begin with e
el otro día (the other day) en ese momento (at that moment) entonces (then) esta mañana (this morning) esta tarde (this afternoon) el mes pasado (last month) el año pasado (last year)
Words that signal the use of the preterite
indicate a specific time period, other
hace dos días/años (two days, years ago)
desde el primer momento (from the first moment)
durante dos siglos (for two centuries)
la semana pasada (last week)
Words that signal the use of the imperfect
indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, every
todas las semanas (every week) todos los días (every day) cada día (every day) cada semana (every week) cada mes (every month) cada año (every year)
Words that signal the use of the imperfect
indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, other
mucho (a lot) nunca (never) siempre (always) por un rato (for awhile) con frecuencia (frequently) frecuentemente (frequently) generalmente (usually) a menudo (often)
Words that signal the use of the imperfect
indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, time
a veces (sometimes) de vez en cuando (from time to time) en aquella época (at that time) muchas veces (many times) tantas veces (so many times) todo el tiempo (all the time) varias veces (several times)
Perterite ER and IR endings
- í
- iste
- ió
- imos
- isteis
- ieron
viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos, vivisteis, vivieron
Imperfect ER and IR endings
- ía
- ías
- ía
- íamos
- íais
- ían
comía, comías, comía, comíamos, comíais, comían
In the preterite tense, AR and ER stem-changing verbs (cerrar, entender) DO NOT CHANGE
cerrar entender cerré entendí cerraste entendiste cerró entendió cerramos entendimos cerrasteis entendisteis cerraron entendieron
In the preterite tense, IR stem-changing verbs change ONLY A LITTLE
in the third person, singular and plural
e changes to i (preferir)
o changes to u (dormir)
preferir dormir preferí dormí preferiste dormiste prefirió durmió preferimos dormimos preferisteis dormisteis prefirieron durmieron
One way to determine if a verb is actually the imperfect is to try substituting one of the following _____
was/were …ing
used to …
would (meaning used to) …
I worked at home during the day.
I was working at home during the day.
I visited my grandmother every day.
I used to visit my grandmother every day.
Every afternoon I took a nap.
Every afternoon I would take a nap.
General mental state, feelings, or physical sensations are usually imperfect
Ramón tenía miedo de hablar en público.
Ramón was afraid to speak in public.
Yo creía que Juan podía hacerlo.
I thought that Juan could do it.
Me gustaba el coche.
I liked the car. (The car was pleasing to me.)
Use the imperfect when describing the characteristics of people, things, or conditions.
(when describing what things were like or how they were)
Era un muchacho muy inteligente.
He was a very intelligent boy.
Era una señorita muy guapa.
She was a beautiful young lady.
Las ventanas estaban abiertas.
The windows were open.
La casa era blanca.
The house was white.
In the preterite:
Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu
Verbs that end in -car change c to qu
Verbs that end in -zar change z to c
in the “yo” form ONLY
yo jugué (jugar)
yo busqué (buscar)
yo almorcé (almorzar)
For preterite verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer
the él/ella/usted forms use the ending “yó” (rather than ió)
the ellos/ellas/ustedes use the ending “yeron” (rather than ieron).
The other forms gain an accent over the letter “i.”
creer creí creíste creyó creímos creísteis creyeron
other examples: caer, leer, oír
For preterite verbs that end in -uir
the él/ella/usted forms use the ending “yó” (rather than ió)
the ellos/ellas/ustedes use the ending “yeron” (rather than ieron).
The “yo” form gains an accent over the letter “i.”
huir (to escape) huí huiste huyó huimos huisteis huyeron
other examples: construir, contribuir, destruir
Irregular preterite verbs that must be memorized
decir, traer, ver
decir traer ver dije traje vi dijiste trajiste viste dijo trajo vio dijimos trajimos vimos dijisteis trajisteis visteis dijeron trajeron vieron
In the preterite form, -ucir verbs change irregularly
producir, introducir, conducir, reducir
producir produje produjiste produjo produjimos produjisteis produjeron
In the preterite tense, some irregular verbs follow the same pattern using these verb endings
- e
- iste
- o
- imos
- isteis
- ieron
Infinitive Stem change andar anduv- estar estuv- tener tuv- caber cup- haber hub- poder pud- poner pus- saber sup- hacer hic- querer quis- venir vin-
exception: hacer (el/ella/usted hizo)
In the imperfect tense, only three verbs are irregular
ser, ir, ver
ser ir ver era iba veía eras ibas veías era iba veía éramos íbamos veíamos erais ibais veíais eran iban veían
Preterite AR, ER/IR endings
AR ER/IR
- é -í
- aste -iste
- ó -ió
- amos -imos
- asteis -isteis
- aron -ieron
Imperfect AR, ER/IR endings
AR ER/IR
- aba -ía
- abas -ías
- aba -ía
- ábamos -íamos
- abais -íais
- aban -ían
