When do you use preterite or imperfect?
When do you use the preterite or imperfect?
2 Answers
Generally speaking the preterite tells you what happened, and the imperfect tells you what was happening, used to happen, always happened, or just the way things were. Examples: It was 1:00 when she arrived. "Era la una cuando llegó." I was talking when the bell rang: "Yo hablaba cuando sonó la campana." Nobody knew where she was: Nadie sabía donde estaba. (nothing happened in that sentence - all imperfect) Yesterday I studied and then I went to class: "Ayer estudié y luego asistí a clase. (two things happened in that sentence - both preterite). .... Preterite and imperfect can be a challenge; get yourself a good reference and concentrate on it, and you will get it. Like so much in language study, after awhile you will develop an ear for what sounds right or sounds wrong, and you will be able to forget about trying to remember the guidelines.
Preterite is about something that happened once and was done. Past imperfect is about a thing that happened many times in the past... like a line in the past vs a dot. I talked to my uncle = past imperfect. I'm sorry that I blew up you car last night = past preterite.
