preterito (past tense) vs. imperfecto Flashcards
When speaking about the past, you can use either the preterite or the imperfect, depending on the sentence and the meaning you wish to convey.
Preterite: This weekend I took a ceramics class.
Something that happened in the past.
Imperfect: When I was young, I took ceramics classes.
Something continuous that happened in the past.
Preterito: Este fin de semana tome (/accent over the e) una clase de ceramica.
This weekend I took a ceramics class.
Imperfecto: Cuando era nino, tomaba clases de escultura.
When I was young, I took ceramics classes.
Use the preterite to tell about past actions that happened and are complete.
Saturday, the class started at ten in the morning.
El sabado, la clase empezo a las 10 de la manana. Saturday, the class started at ten in the morning.
Use the imperfect to tell about habitual actions in the past.
When I was young, the classes started at 5 in the afternoon.
Cuando era nino, las clases empezaban a las 5 de la tarde.
When I was young, the classes started at 5 in the afternoon.
Use the preterite to give a sequence of actions in the past.
When we arrived, the professor took out his paints and brushes and started to paint.
Cuando llegamos, la profesora saco (/accent over the o) su pintura y pinceles y empezo (/accent over the o) a pintar.
When we arrived, the professor took out his paints and brushes and started to paint.
Use the imperfect to give background details such as time, location, weather, mood, age, and physical and mental descriptions.
It was two in the afternoon. We were in the park. It was a fall day. We were all very happy.
Eran las dos de la tarde.
It was two in the afternoon.
Estabamos en el parque. (/accent over the first a)
We were in the park.
Era un dia de otono. (~ over the n)
It was a fall day.
Todos estabamos muy contentos.
We were all very happy.
Use the preterite and the imperfect together when an action (preterite) interrupts another that is takin place in the past (imperfect).
We were in the store when the professor walked in.
Estabamos en la tienda cuando entro (/accent over the o) el profesor.
Use the imperfect when two or more actions are taking place simultaneously in the past.
While the children painted, the professor watched the paints.
Mientras los ninos pintaban, el profesor observaba las pinturas.
While the children painted, the professor watched the paints.
