G A M E - Preterite vs Imperfect

Question

Objective: practice in the use of the past tenses, preterite & imperfect

The rules:-----------------------------

1. translate the English sentence given by the person above into Spanish using the correct preterite or imperfect verb conjugations

make sure you click on N E W E S T before you begin

Then

1. state whether you used the preterite or the imperfect and give a short explanation as to why you used it

• and finally

provide a new sentence in English which includes a verb used in the past

for the next person to translate.

Have fun! ¡Diviértanse!

A suggestion: please keep your sentences simple. This is tricky stuff, so let's concentrate on the tenses, ok? - Gekko.

PS: here's a great link showing how the preterite is for action in the past whereas the imperfect is an ongoing condition in the past: Imperfecto vs Preterito

A big thanks to Gekko who at the moment is kindly correcting this thread - Gekko if you have a mo' please post a thread below introducing yourself or post empty thread for me to introduce you, thus allowing the grateful participants to vote for all your hard and much appreciated work here

• Maria Claire, this is a great idea! I wish you lots of takers - JulianChivi Aug 10, 2010
• Muchisimas gracias :) thanx for joining in! - Kiwi_Girl Aug 10, 2010
• So many views and so few posts? Come on guys just have a go - this is for learning and we're all here to help and be helped so have a crack :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010
• Great idea Marie-Claire :) - --Jen-- Aug 11, 2010
• What a "perfect" game!!! - --Mariana-- Aug 11, 2010
View 14 more commments >>

Answer 1

What do you mean "introduce myself"?

Do I really need introduction? Sweet little me? Really??

If you don't know what a Gekkosan is, just do a quick search. Something or other is bound to come up.

Of course Gekko needs no introduction but this post is here because I know you will all really appreciate the hard work that Gekko is doing on this thread and you will want to say thanx - so .... 'Vote here for Gekko' and all your wildest dreams may come true!

If you want to know more about this idea, read 'Reward the Moderators'

• Awesome, thanx :) - Kiwi_Girl Jan 10, 2012
• Just don't anyone ***puleeeeze*** start calling me Pedro!!! :-P - Gekkosan Jan 10, 2012
• rofl :) - Kiwi_Girl Jan 10, 2012
• What did you say, Pedro? - annierats Jan 10, 2012
• Now, now, Annie, play nice. :-P - Gekkosan Jan 10, 2012
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Answer 2

Luz sat down on the sofa.

Luz se sentó en el sofá

Preterite because the action took place and ended in that moment.

Rogelio used to be a lawyer

• No, Julian is right. Sentó is preterite of sentar - to sit. - Gekkosan Aug 10, 2010

Answer 3

Old sentence:

When we were young, we played all the time.

Translation: Cuando eramos jóvenes, jugabamos todo el tiempo.

Imperfect: because it was an ongoing period of time in the past.

New sentence: Where did you live when you were a child?

• Bien hecho :) voting! - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010

Answer 4

Rogelio used to be a lawyer

Rogelio era un abogado

Imperfect: because the person used to be (was being) a lawyer this was happening at some time in the past and there was no clear completion of the action/state of being a lawyer

Sofia played with her skipping rope

• great Feliz - and an English one for the next person :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 10, 2010
• ah you were doing your 'quick get something up so no one pips me' lol :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010
• Actually, this sentence is perfect for the use of the verb "dejar" which means "stopped" or "used to. - JoyceM Aug 14, 2010
• how about, "Rogelio deje de trabajar como un abogado." Or, "Rogelio ha dejado de trabajar como un abogado." - JoyceM Aug 14, 2010
• Or Rogelio trabajaba como un abogado tambíen :) - FELIZ77 Aug 15, 2010
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Answer 5

María spent her time reading books in Tongan while sunbathing in New Zealand's beaches

María pasó su tiempo leyendo libros en Tongano mientras tomaba el sol en las playas de Nueva Zelanda.

Preterite for "passed the time" and imperfect for "took the sun" because when one action is performed while another action is going on you use preterite for the first and imperfect for the second.

Edit: OK, mientras instead of cuando.

When I was a child my mother told me I was very handsome.

• Umm ... I would use "mientras tomando ..." or "durante tomando ...". The imperfect tense "tomaba" just doesn't sound correct. (But what do I know). I hope someone else with a better understanding of the verb tenses responds. - Daniel Aug 10, 2010
• Maybe I was being too zealous trying to crowbar both tenses into one sentence. I don't think durante tomando would work, though. - KevinB Aug 10, 2010
• Yea "mientras tomando .." sounds best. What I heard in my ear is that the past had already been set up with "pasó". - Daniel Aug 10, 2010
• Now I'm still learning but isn't it true that it's the imperfect for actions being done when interrupted by something else and the action interrupting is in the preterite - eg Yo escuchaba música cuando llegó mi papá - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010
• so what is the rule when things are taking place simultaneously? as in the reading while sunbathing example? is it still imperfect & preterite? because I would be inclined to put them both in then imperfect. But I'm happy to be taught otherwise :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010
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Answer 6

Old sentence: I was thinking about you.

Estaba pensando en ti.

Imperfect: Because there is no definite beginning or end to the action.

New sentence: When we were young, we played all the time.

• Bien hecho, do you think though that this could this be a time to use a subject pronoun? - to distinguish between yo and él/ella y usted :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010
• I don't think so.... with more context to this sentence - which there would be in real life - it would be obvious who was thinking without a subject pronoun. - --Jen-- Aug 14, 2010
• Hi Jen! - sanlee Sep 10, 2010

Answer 7

Sofia played with her skipping rope

Sofía jugó con su cuerda de saltar.

Preterite because the action took place and ended in that moment.

Edited: María spent her time reading books in Tongan while sunbathing in New Zealand's beaches

• Ja ja ja :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 10, 2010
• but weren't you meant to put that in English lol? - Kiwi_Girl Aug 10, 2010
• but it's quite true!! how did you know? - not just Tongan ones tho' ja ja - Kiwi_Girl Aug 10, 2010
• Was I? Oh well, I shall change it then. Should make the challenge more interesting. :-] - Gekkosan Aug 10, 2010
• I believe the verb tense should be imperfect -- "jugaba" in this case. - Daniel Aug 10, 2010
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Answer 8

Old Sentence:

I fell off my horse yesterday while riding.

Ayer me caí de mi caballo mientras montaba.

[Edit: I forgot my explanation] - 'caerse' is preterite because it's a completed action. 'montar' is imperfect because it is something that was occuring as a background event.

New sentance:

Last Sunday it rained a lot so I didn't go for a walk.

• Nice :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010

Answer 9

Old sentence:

Last Sunday it rained a lot so I didn't go for a walk.

Translation: El domingo pasado llovió mucho, por eso no di un paseo.

Preterit: because the events took place within one day, a specific time period.

New sentence: I was thinking about you.

• Do you "give" or "take" a walk in Spanish sentence constructions? - Don-Linton Aug 11, 2010
• Either give, or go out for one. - Gekkosan Aug 11, 2010
• Gracias. - Don-Linton Aug 11, 2010
• I'm not trying to be annoying at all, but am wondering if it should be "se lluvió" because nothing specific did the raining. Or is it implied that 'the weather' or 'the clouds' rained? - la-maestra-r Sep 23, 2010

Answer 10

I used to like flowers before I became allergic.

Las flores me gustaban hasta adquirí una alergia.

The imperfect gustaban was affected by the preterit or simple past tense adquirí.

---

New sentence.

I rode horseback a lot when I was young.

• This is the best game I've seen so far. I had to do some digging for this one. And that's good. I think I got it right, but we'll see. - canicos Aug 11, 2010
• Nice. Just please notice that "flores" is plural, so it must be "gustaban", also in plural. - Gekkosan Aug 11, 2010
• Thanks, Gekkosan. I know that, but tend to forget. This is a good example of why I think this is a realy good game. Constructive critisism is always helpful. - canicos Aug 11, 2010
• Bien hecho, that was a great sentence wasn't it :) Well translated! - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010

Answer 11

She opened the door, but there was no one outside.

Abrió la puerta, pero no había nadie fuera.

Abrío preterit..its an open and shut case! I know Ha Ha.

I'll go with the imperfect tense with había. There is ambiguity here. Just because no one was there the first time the door was opened, next time, a visitor perhaps?

---

New Sentence..

I thought of a vacation in Costa Rica but lost too much money in Las Vegas.

• Bien hecho! :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 12, 2010
• Yo creo que la palabra'fuera' debe ser 'afuera' en este caso. - Incógnito Aug 24, 2010

Answer 12

Given: "Last week, while I was driving to London, it was very sunny."

Spanish: (La semana pasada mientras manejaba a Londres, era muy soleado.)

(manejaba) -- imperfect: what I was doing, no definite length of time

(era) -- imperfect: decription of the past

---

New sentence:

Yesterday was a great day, I went to the beach for 2 hours.

• "estuvo muy soleado", not "era". - Gekkosan Aug 11, 2010
• The "New" sentence is not a sentence but could be if a conjunction replaced the comma. - Don-Linton Aug 11, 2010

Answer 13

When I was a child my mother told me I was very handsome.

Cuando era niño mi madre me dijo que era muy guapo.

Era (imperfect - no start or finish to the timeframe)

dijo (she told me "once" - could be "decía" but Kevin didn't say "used to tell me")

Era (as above)

Last week, while I was driving to London, it was very sunny.

• That's what I intended to say. Bien hecho. - KevinB Aug 10, 2010
• The second "era" is also due to it being a description. Very good! - hseminati Aug 11, 2010
• i take this to be preterite. My mom told me, and the action was over. She didn't use to tell me all the time: "mi madre me decía", which would be the imperfect case. - Gekkosan Aug 11, 2010
• oh poor Gekko, I hope you didn't have a deprived childhood - what mother would only say that once to her son? je je from a Mum's perspective I would definitely go with the decía :) - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010

Answer 14

Given Sentence:

I climbed a mountain two days ago.

Hace dos días subí una montaña.

Preterite because a time in the past was specified and the action was completed.

New Sentence:

Last night Luz began to feel sick and she woudn't stop crying.

• Don't you need some punctuation mark there between "sick" and "she"? - Gekkosan Aug 11, 2010
• You need a conjunction there. - Don-Linton Aug 11, 2010
• true, true, thanx guys - Kiwi_Girl Aug 11, 2010

Answer 15

Given Sentence: What were you doing when the earthquake hit?

Translation: ¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando ocurrió el terremoto?

I used the imperfect for estar haciendo to set the scene and the preterite for the interupting action (ocurrir).

New Sentence: All day long she waited for children to pass by.

• This is a good one sagila...is there a way to print out all these sentences to study over and over? - foxluv Aug 17, 2010
• I think you would either have to print all the pages as they are or highlight and copy the sentences into a separate text document, unless someone else knows a simpler way. - sagiia Aug 18, 2010