Preterite vs Imperfect Review Flashcards
AR (pret)
- é -amos
- aste
- ó -aron
ER (pret)
í -imos
iste
ió -ieron
IR (Pret)
í imos
iste
ió ieron
AR (imp)
aba abamos
abas
aba aban
ER
ía íamos
ías
íá ían
IR
ía íamos
ías
íá ían
When to use preterite
For actions that can be viewed as single events
For actions that were repeated a specific number of times
For actions that occurred during a specific period of time
For actions that were part of a chain of events
To state the beginning or the end of an action
When to use imperfect
For actions that were repeated habitually
For actions that “set the stage” for another past action
For telling time
For stating one’s age
For mental states (usually)
For physical sensations (usually)
To describe the characteristics of people, things or conditions
ser (pret)
fui fuimos
fuiste
fue fueron
ir (pret)
fui fuimos
fuiste
fue fueron
dar (pret)
di diste dio dimos dieron
hacer (pret)
hice hiciste hizo hicimos hicieron
ser (imp)
era eras era éramos eran
ir (imp)
iba ibas iba íbamos iban
ver
veía veías veía veíamos veían
words that signal use of preterite
ayer (yesterday) anteayer (the day before yesterday) anoche (last night) desde el primer momento (from the first moment) durante dos siglos (for two centuries) el otro día (the other day) en ese momento (at that moment) entonces (then) esta mañana (this morning) esta tarde (this afternoon) la semana pasada (last week) el mes pasado (last month) el año pasado (last year) hace dos días, años (two days, years ago) ayer por la mañana (yesterday morning) ayer por la tarde (yesterday afternoon)
words that signal use of imperfect
a menudo (often) a veces (sometimes) cada día (every day) cada semana (every week) cada mes (every month) cada año (every year) con frecuencia (frequently) de vez en cuando (from time to time) en aquella época (at that time) frecuentemente (frequently) generalmente (usually) muchas veces (many times) mucho (a lot) nunca (never) por un rato (for awhile) siempre (always) tantas veces (so many times) todas las semanas (every week) todos los días (every day) todo el tiempo (all the time) varias veces (several times)
-ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the preterite
-ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the preterite
preferir (pret)
preferí preferiste preferió preferirió preferimos prefirieron
dormir (pret)
dormí dormiste durmió dormimos durmieron
car, gar, zar (yo form only)
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
-aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer,
yo & yeron
creer (pret)
creí creíste creyó creímos creísteis creyeron
andar (to walk) (pret)
anduv
