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Autumn's Spanish > Imperfect/Preterite > Flashcards

Imperfect/Preterite Flashcards

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1
Q

Preterite AR endings

A
  • é
  • aste
  • ó
  • amos
  • asteis
  • aron

hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron

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2
Q

Imperfect AR endings

A
  • aba
  • abas
  • aba
  • ábamos
  • abais
  • aban

hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablabais, hablaban

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3
Q

When do you use the preterite tense?

A

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)

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4
Q

Use the preterite tense for actions that ______

A
  • 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
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5
Q

Use the imperfect for _____

A
  • actions that were repeated habitually
  • actions that “set the stage” for another action
  • telling time and stating one’s age
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6
Q

When do you use the imperfect tense?

A

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)

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7
Q

Words that signal the use of the preterite

indicate a specific time period, begin with a

A 
ayer  (yesterday)
anteayer  (the day before yesterday)
anoche  (last night)
ayer por la mañana  (yesterday morning)
ayer por la tarde  (yesterday afternoon)
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8
Q

Words that signal the use of the preterite

indicate a specific time period, begin with e

A 
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)
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9
Q

Words that signal the use of the preterite

indicate a specific time period, other

A

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)

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10
Q

Words that signal the use of the imperfect

indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, every

A 
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)
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11
Q

Words that signal the use of the imperfect

indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, other

A 
mucho  (a lot)
nunca  (never)
siempre  (always)
por un rato  (for awhile)
con frecuencia  (frequently)
frecuentemente  (frequently)
generalmente  (usually)
a menudo  (often)
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12
Q

Words that signal the use of the imperfect

indicate repetitive, vague, or non-specific time frame, time

A 
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)
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13
Q

Perterite ER and IR endings

A
  • í
  • iste
  • ió
  • imos
  • isteis
  • ieron

viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos, vivisteis, vivieron

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14
Q

Imperfect ER and IR endings

A
  • ía
  • ías
  • ía
  • íamos
  • íais
  • ían

comía, comías, comía, comíamos, comíais, comían

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15
Q

In the preterite tense, AR and ER stem-changing verbs (cerrar, entender) DO NOT CHANGE

A 
cerrar 	        entender
cerré 	        entendí
cerraste 	        entendiste
cerró 	        entendió
cerramos 	entendimos
cerrasteis 	entendisteis
cerraron 	        entendieron
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16
Q

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)

A 
preferir 	        dormir
preferí 	        dormí
preferiste         dormiste
prefirió 	        durmió
preferimos 	dormimos
preferisteis 	dormisteis
prefirieron        durmieron
17
Q

One way to determine if a verb is actually the imperfect is to try substituting one of the following _____

A

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.

18
Q

General mental state, feelings, or physical sensations are usually imperfect

A

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.)

19
Q

Use the imperfect when describing the characteristics of people, things, or conditions.
(when describing what things were like or how they were)

A

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.

20
Q

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

A

yo jugué (jugar)
yo busqué (buscar)
yo almorcé (almorzar)

21
Q

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.”

A 
creer
creí
creíste
creyó
creímos
creísteis
creyeron

other examples: caer, leer, oír

22
Q

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.”

A 
huir (to escape)
huí
huiste
huyó
huimos
huisteis
huyeron

other examples: construir, contribuir, destruir

23
Q

Irregular preterite verbs that must be memorized

decir, traer, ver

A 
decir         traer 	      ver
dije 	         traje              vi
dijiste        trajiste          viste
dijo 	         trajo              vio
dijimos      trajimos        vimos
dijisteis     trajisteis       visteis
dijeron      trajeron         vieron
24
Q

In the preterite form, -ucir verbs change irregularly

producir, introducir, conducir, reducir

A 
producir
produje
produjiste
produjo
produjimos
produjisteis
produjeron
25
Q

In the preterite tense, some irregular verbs follow the same pattern using these verb endings

  • e
  • iste
  • o
  • imos
  • isteis
  • ieron
A 
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)

26
Q

In the imperfect tense, only three verbs are irregular

ser, ir, ver

A 
ser 	           ir                 ver
era 	           iba              veía
eras 	           ibas 	      veías
era 	           iba 	      veía
éramos       íbamos       veíamos
erais            ibais 	      veíais
eran            iban 	      veían
27
Q

Preterite AR, ER/IR endings

A

AR ER/IR

  • é -í
  • aste -iste
  • ó -ió
  • amos -imos
  • asteis -isteis
  • aron -ieron
28
Q

Imperfect AR, ER/IR endings

A

AR ER/IR

  • aba -ía
  • abas -ías
  • aba -ía
  • ábamos -íamos
  • abais -íais
  • aban -ían

Autumn's Spanish (51 decks)

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