spanish tenses
When do you use the imperfect tense instead of the preterit tense and what is the difference between the two examples etc'thanks.
3 Answers
I really liked they way you put it as a video vs a picture, that really makes it clear.
The Imperfect is a continuing past. It doesn't have any indication of when the action started nor ended.
Cuando era joven... When I was young.
It is also used to talk about habitual past actions. This is when we say "used to"
Andábamos a la escuela todos los días.... We used to walk to school everyday.
De niña jugaba mucho con las muñecas. ... As a little girl, she played with dolls a lot.
The Preterite is used to describe a completed past action. It most often has a definite time expression indicated or implied.
Estudie en España el año pasado.... I studied in Spain last year. (the action is completed)
Me acosté temprano anoche. ... ( I went to bed early lastnight. ( the action is completed)
An easy way to remember the difference is that if you were to record each ot them, The preterite would be best recorded as a snapshot and the Imperfect would be best recorded as a video.
In a story the Imperfect provides the setting of the story (describes what was going on and what it looked like) and the preterite would provide the action.
Ella miraba la televisión cuando su madre llegó a casa.... She was watching television when her mother came home.
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