EL PRÉTERITO

O
EL IMPERFECTO
 USES OF THE PRETERITE
 Simple,isolated action that is totally
completed in the past (happened
once)
 Beginning or end of action
 Happened a specific number of times
 Happened at or during a specific time
 Main action or event
 MOVED THE STORY FORWARD
 COMMON EXPRESSIONS USING
PRETERITE
 Entonces  Anoche

 De  La semana
momento
 Aquella semana pasada
 El 25 de julio
 Anteayer
 De repente
 En febrero
 Por fin
 El lunes
 Una noche
 Una vez  Durante
Preterite Formation
Regular verbs Irregular verbs
(no “rules”, you must memorize them)

cantar ser/ir

yo canté nosotros cantamos yo fui nosotros fuimos

tú cantaste tú fuiste
Ud. cantó Uds. cantaron Ud. fue Uds. fueron
él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas

beber tener

yo bebí nosotros bebimos yo tuve nosotros tuvimos

tú bebiste tú tuviste
Ud. bebió Uds. bebieron Ud. tuvo Uds. tuvieron
él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas

vivir dormir

yo viví nosotros vivimos yo dormí nosotros dormimos

tú viviste tú dormiste
Ud. vivió Uds. vivieron Ud. durmió Uds. durmieron
él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas
 USES OF THE IMPERFECT
 Repeated, habitual actions (“used to,
was, would”)
 Descriptions in the past
 Ongoing actions (you don’t know

when they started or stopped)

 Telling time in the past

◦ Eran las dos

 MORE USES OF IMPERFECT
 Age in the past
 Mental or physical state of being in

the past
◦ Verbs like: saber, conocer, querer, creer,
estar, and tener are usually imperfect
 Backgroundinformation
 DOESN’T MOVE THE STORY FORWARD
 COMMON EXPRESSIONS WITH THE
IMPERFECT
 Generalmente  De costumbre
 Constantemente  A menudo

 Siempre  A veces
 Con frecuencia
 Frecuentemente
 Por lo general
 Normalmente
 Regularmente
 Todas las tardes  De vez en
 Cada semana
cuando
Imperfect Formation
Regulares Irregulares

escuchar ir

yo escuchaba nosotros escuchábamos yo iba nosotros íbamos

tú escuchabas tú ibas

Ud. escuchaba Uds. escuchaban Ud. iba Uds. iban

él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas

vivir ser

yo vivía nosotros vivíamos yo era nosotros éramos

tú vivías tú eras

Ud. vivía Uds. vivían Ud. era Uds. eran

él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas

beber ver

yo bebía nosotros bebíamos yo veía nosotros veíamos

tú bebías tú veías

Ud. bebías Uds. bebían Ud. veía Uds. veían

él/ella ellos/ellas él/ella ellos/ellas
The Break Down (in English)

 Well,it was Tuesday, and I was

walking through the park. As I
was following a path through
the trees, I suddenly fell to the
ground. I tripped over a rock. I
laughed to myself because I
was afraid someone would
have seen me fall.
The Breakdown Continued
 If we want to say… was ___ing or used to do
◦ We use the IMPERFECT
 If we want to say… did once, aka talked (with
the _____ed)
◦ We will use the PRETERITE
Preterite v. Imperfect
 Something was happening, when an action
‘interrupted’ it.
◦ The ongoing action is imperfect, and the action
that ‘interrupts’ is preterite.

 In a long narrative.
◦ The part that seems to be descriptive,
background info is imperfect, while actions and
specific events are preterite.
Practice

While I was walking in

Florida, I saw a gator (el
caimán).
Mientras caminaba en
Florida, vi a un caimán.

(interruption of an ongoing action)

Practice
I left Florida, and
went
to Belize. It was
sunny
when I arrived!

Salí de Florida, y fui a

Belize. Hacía
mucho sol cuando
llegué.
(action, weather, action)
Verbs That Change in Meaning from
Preterite to Imperfect Tenses
 A few Spanish verbs have different meanings
in the imperfect and the preterite tenses:
 SABER
 CONOCER
 QUERER
 NO QUERER
 PODER
SABER
 Imperfect – “knew”
 ¿Sabías que el concierto empezaba tarde?
 Did you know that the concert began late?

 Preterite – “found out, learned”

 Sí, supe ayer que empezaba tarde.
 Yes, I found out that it began late.
CONOCER

 Imperfect – “knew (somebody)”

 Pedro conocía muy bien a esa actriz.
 Pedro knew that actress very well.

 Preterite – “met (somebody) for the first time”

 Luis la conoció el año pasado.
 Luis met her last year.
QUERER
 Imperfect – “wanted to”
 Luis quería comprar las entradas hoy.
 Luis wanted to buy the tickets today.

 Preterite – “tried to, attempted to”

 Yo quise comprarlas, pero me enfermé.
 I tried to buy them but I got sick.
NO QUERER
 Imperfect – “didn’t want to”
 No querían ver esa obra de teatro.
 They didn’t want to see that play.

 Preterite – “refused to”

 No quisieron ver esa obra de teatro.
 They refused to see that play.
PODER
 Imperfect – “was able to, could”
 Ella podía aprender la letra de la canción.
 She was able to learn the letter of the song.

 Preterite – “managed to, succeeded in”

 Ella pudo aprender la letra de esa canción.
 She succeeded in learning the letter of that

song.