Difference between the imperfect tense and the preterite tense (tener)

Question

I'm not exactly sure how to word this question, but how do these two tenses differ in meaning?

Imperfect

tenía

tenías

tenía

teníamos

teníais

tenían

Preterite

tuve - I had

tuviste - you had

tuvo - he/she/it/you had

tuvimos - we had

tuvisteis - you had

tuvieron - they/you had

Answer 1

¡Hola!, Debdelafuente:

 

Comparing The Preterit (Pretérito) and The Imperfect (Imperfecto)

Preterit – Pretérito (Past - Completed)	?	Imperfect – Imperfecto (Past - Continuous)
-----------------------------------------------------	?	-------------------------------------------------------------
This tense expresses an action in the past that was completed at some time in the past. The specific past actions will have been performed (1)- at a fixed point in time (2)- a specific number of times in the past (3)- during a specific amount of time in the past	?	This tense expresses an action or a state of being in the past that was ongoing or continuous in the past. The action(s) in the past will have these qualities (1)- they took place repeatedly in the past (2)- they were ongoing or continuous in the past (3)- they occurred over an extended period of unspecified time in the past
	?

This is a basic comparison. There is certainly more detail and in particular, regarding the imperfect. For the additional more detailed information and examples, see Paralee Whitmire's Reference Pages by following these links
For the preterit ----> El Pretérito , and
For the Imperfect ----> El Imperfecto

You will also find that our teacher Paralee Whitmire explains the Preterite and the Imprefect in her lesson 2.10, found here ----> Preterite & Imperfect

Answer 2

If I was trying to say...."We had a long flight"

Would I use the preterite or the imperfect tense of tener?

Maybe not "tener" at all - preterite of "ser" - el vuelo nos fue largo. Or - if it really dragged out - "el vuelo se nos hizo largo" or "el vuelto nos resultó largo" - mountaingirl123, May 11, 2010

Answer 3

HI, Debdelafuente, Moe's got it!

However, in a total nutshell: the preterite of "tener" has the feeling of "received" or "held in one's hand", or "came to one's possession". On the toher hand the imperfect of "tener" means merely that someone "had" something - no emphasis on the actual getting of the item.

Yo tenía un hermano. - I had one brother.

Tuve una carta - I got a letter.