The preterit and the Imperfect

Question 1

What is the difference between

the preterit and the imperfect?

Answer 1

This is simple yet it can get confusing.

The preterit = a past tense; it indicates that the action happened

at a specific point in time in the past. Forexample,

ayer, en la clase, hace una semana; there is a reference when / where the action occured

The imperfect = an ongoing actions in the past; we don’t have a

refernce of when the action started or when it

it ended; some key words that indicate the use of the imperfect include generalmente,

a menudo, muchas veces….

Question 2

What are the regular conjugations for

the preterit?

Answer 2

• ar ending verbs -er / -ir ending vb
• é -í
• aste -iste
• ó -ió
• amos -imos
• aron -ieron

Question 3

What are the regular conjugations

for the imperfect?

Answer 3

• ar ending verbs -er /-ir ending verbs
• aba -ía
• abas -ías
• aba -ía

ábamos -íamos

-aban -ían

Question 4

So, when using the preterit and imperfect together

what should I keep in mind?

Answer 4

You can use the preterit or the imperfect depeding on the meaning you’re trying to send to your listeners.

Question 5

Check out the summary for the preterit.

Answer 5

The preterit is to:

1- to tell about past actions that happened at a specific time

Ayer, yo fui a CicLAvia.

2- to give a sequence of related events

Antes de ir a CicLAvia, me desperté, me levanté de la cama,

me bañé, me vestí, desayané y fui al Centro de Los Angeles

Question 6

Now, review the summary for the imperfect

Answer 6

For the imperfect:

1- to talk about habitual actions in the past

Yo montaba en bicicleta todos los fines de semana

2- to give background information of an event/person, such as time, location, weather, mood, age, physical and mental

descriptions

Era domingo, estábamos en el parque, hacía mucho calor,

pero todos estábamos contentos.

3- when two actions are occuring at the same time

Yo cocinaba y mis hermanas ponían la mesa.

Question 7

How about when they’re together, what should I keep in mind?

Answer 7

When you have to use the preterit and imperfect together,

there was always an ongoing action, when another action interrupted the ongoing action:

Yo hablaba por telefono cuando mi hermana entró a mi

habitación.

Question 8

Check out these examples.

Answer 8

Rosita dormía cuando su mamá la despertó.

Rosita was sleeping when her mother woke her up.

Question 9

Another example.

Answer 9

Los estudiantes hablaban durante la clase

cuando la maestra dijo, ¡silencio!

The students were talking loud, when the teacher said, silence!

Question 10

Last example. Now, notice some of the elements that make up the sentence.

Answer 10

Mi grupo pintaba cuando Lupita derramó las pinturas.

My group was paiting when Lupita spilled the paints.