Verbs that change meaning in the preterit and imperfect Flashcards
conocer
preterit
Conocí a Amparo hace siete años.
To meet
I met Amparo seven years ago.
conocer
imperfect
No conocía bien a Juan en aquel entonces.
To know; to be familiar with
I didn’t know Juan very well back then.
saber
preterit
¿Sabías que José Manuel está casado?
To find out; to learn
Did you know that José Manuel is married?
saber
imperfect
Sí, lo supe ayer.
To know
Yes, I found out yesterday.
querer
preterit affirmative
Marco quiso salir.
To want to do something and actually accomplishing it
Marco wanted to go out (and he did).
querer
imperfect affirmative
Marco quería salir, pero no tenía dinero para el autobús.
To want to do something but not necessarily accomplish it
Marco wanted to go out, but he didn’t.
querer
preterit negative
No quise ir a clase.
To refuse
I refused to go to class (so I didn’t).
querer
imperfect negative
No quería ir a clase.
To not want to
I didn’t want to go to class (but I did anyway).
poder
preterit affirmative
Por lo menos pude ir a clase ayer.
To be able to do something and succeed in doing it At least I was able to go to class yesterday.
poder
preterit negative
Podía ir a clase ayer, pero no fui.
To be able to do something but not necessarily accomplish it I could go (could have gone) to class yesterday, but I didn't
poder
preterit negative
El prisionero no pudo escapar de la cárcel.
To be unable to do something despite trying
The prisoner couldn’t escape from prison (but he tried).
tener que
preterit
Tuve que ir al médico.
To have to do something and do it
I had to go to the doctor’s (and I went).
tener que
imperfect
Tenía que ir al médico, pero no había citas.
To have to do something but not necessarily accomplish it
I had to (needed to) go to the doctor’s, but there weren’t any appointments.
