Preterite & Imperfect tenses - confused with usage

Question

I am writing about something I did 20 years ago (ie Fui a la escuela en Italia hace 20 años) and then I talk about the subjects I studied there, what I liked and disliked, what I discovered about life etc etc.

To me these events all happened in the past and are now finished, so I originally thought I would use the preterite tense - like I went (fui) to school 20 years ago & I studied (estudié), but now after researching the use of these two tenses, I am confused - because I guess I could be saying I "used" to study and I "used" to like this/that. However, can I say "I used to like studying art because I found it interesting" - can I use both tenses in the same sentence, ie:

Me gustaba estudiar arte porque lo encontré interesante

and do I say I used to do well in art & languages or I did well in art & languages ie:

hice/hacia bien en arte y idiomas.

The more I research about these two tenses, the more i get confused.

Many thanks to anyone who can help.

I share your confusion with the uses of these two tenses. I have read and re-read the reference articles, and some situations are still unclear to me. - LaBurra, Jan 4, 2010

Answer 1

Another way to think of it is that the imperfect is used to set the scene and the preterite is used to describe distinct events that happened. Feelings other than reactions to specific events are usually in the imperfect since they don't have a specific beginning and ending. Your sample sentences are all habitual actions in the past rather than specific events, so I would use the imperfect.

Thank you. This seems to make sense (kind of) - I think it will take time and experience as noted below! - ChristineX, Jan 7, 2010

Answer 2

In addition to the good advice already given, dont be afraid to think about the words that accompany the verb in the sentence. If you see words that surround the verb like 'yesterday, last night, last month, this morning' - words that bring your thoughts to a specific moment in time, think about using the preterite.

Thinking about the words that accompany the verb and not just the (very difficult!!) concept will help you come to terms faster with which tense to use.

Painfully I am finding lots of time and experience will also help!

Answer 3

Chrissy i do get confused about them as well but my spanish teacher tle me a better way of telling the difference. In a way it does make sense!! Imperfect= think of this as a movie (on going). Preterito= think of this a one still picture (on shot taken, all over an done with, action completed). I hope i have not confused you anymore!!!!

Answer 4

Yes, you are

Era una noche oscura y tempestuosa cuando de repente el monstruo -- abrió los ojos por primera vez

Guess I need to review por/para and my articles, too! So much to learn! Thanks for your patience. - LaBurra, Jan 4, 2010

:) - 00494d19, Jan 4, 2010

Answer 5

Based on Lorenzo's advice: "It was a dark and stormy night" would be imperfect; "when suddenly the monster opened his eyes for the first time" would be preterite:

Era una noche oscura y tempestuosa cuando de repente el monstruo se abrió sus ojos para la primera vez.

Am I starting to get this?

Yes. - lorenzo9, Jan 4, 2010

Answer 6

Very nicely explaiined by Lorenzo, as a general rule, when you can say " I used to" you use imperfect,

To do well: se me daba bien