G A M E - Preterite vs Imperfect
Objective: practice in the use of the past tenses, preterite & imperfect
The rules:-----------------------------
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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
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state whether you used the preterite or the imperfect and give a short explanation as to why you used it
- and finally
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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 and another that I've put together that may be of some use too, Pret vs Imp.
A big thanks to Gekko who 'was' 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 
Edit - Sadly Gekko doesn't come round much anymore :( we'd love it if he did but in the meantime any corrections or suggestions are gratefully accepted and if someone would like to volunteer to help with moderation of this game, that'd be awesome, please just let us know so we can welcome you officially to the possie (as us antipodeans say (ie. position))
388 Answers
Given:
It was three o'clock in the afternoon when they delivered my parent's new washer and dryer.
Translated:
Eran las tres de la tarde cuando entregaron la nueva lavadora y secadora de mis padres.
Reason:
eran: imperfect, used for telling time in the past
entregaron: preterite single action in the past
New Sentence:
I had been watching TV for 4 hours when the power went off.
We cooked dinner yesterday as we do when our room mate is late and it was 9pm when he arrived last night.
Ayer cocinamos la cena como lo hacemos cuando nuestro compañero de cuarto viene tarde y eran las nueve cuando llegó anoche.
==Preterite because of the completed actions in the past and Imperfect for telling the time in the past.
New sentence:
After the movie ended, we left the cinema thinking this wasn't the best way to spend the night.
Given sentence I used to swim everyday when I was young.
(Yo) Nadaba a diario cuando era joven. imperfect because action repeated habitually
My sentence
It was three o'clock in the afternoon when they delivered my parent's new washer and dryer.
It had been so rainy all summer long, that when the day became sunny and hot on Saturday it felt like you were walking in a giant sauna.
Había estado tan lluvioso por todo el verano, que cuando el día se tornó cálido y soleado el sabado pasado, se sentía como andando en una sauna gigantesca.
==Preterite is for past finished action (became) and Imperfect for describing emotions (how it felt)
New sentence:
I used to like that dress for a long time, before I changed my dressing style and thought it was no longer appropriate.
Old sentence: What did you do when John arrived? ¿Que hiciste cuando Juan llegara?
New: When I was young, I used to play baseball in the park.
Given sentence: When my son was eight years old, he was in my sister-in-law's wedding and he caught the garter belt. Yesterday, we watched the video that showed him putting the garter on the woman who caught the bouquet. I had forgotten all about it.
Translation: Cuando mi hijo tenía ocho años, él estaba en la boda de mi cuñada y se atrapó el liguero. Ayer, vimos el video que le exhibió él poniedo el liguero a la mujer que atrapó el ramo. Me había olvidado de todo.
Explation: The imperfect forms of tener and haber are used because they were ongoing events. The preterite forms of coger, ver and mostrar are used because they are one time events.
My sentence: Last month my daughter hit my father-in-law's fence while driving her mother's car. The fence was barely damaged and the car received a few minor scratches.
What did you do when John arrived?
¿Qué hiciste cuando llegó John?
==Two actions finished in the past i.e. Preterite
New sentence:
After winning the lottery, he started drinking.
Given:
She woke up, prepared herself and had coffee, like she used to do every day.
Translated:
Ella se despiertó, se arregló y tomó (un) cafe, como hacía todos los días.
(I know the 'given' sentence only says coffee but I just feel like I want to put 'un' in there lol - also can I use hacía like that or do I need solía hacer?)
Reason:
Listing a sequence of completed actions in the past you use the preterit.
Speaking of something someone 'used to do' needs the imperfect.
New Sentence:
We went skiing and climbed a mountain and I slipped down on a steep bit of the mountain which my husband thought was hilarious and he took the picture to prove it.
How did work go? Did you get everything done that you wanted to?
¿Cómo fue el trabajo más? ¿Recibiste todo que quiso a?
Brief and helpful explanation by Lazarus:
Someone just expressed confusion about these two tenses in a separate thread, and Lazarus provided this explanation, which I think most of those who are still confused here will find very helpful:
If something happened once in the distant past it should be preterite right?
No, both tenses can be used for distant or close moments in the past.
In a nutshell, imperfect describes the past, whereas the preterite tells us how past events took place. Imperfect is used when we want to recreate a past event (that happened just once, or several times) disregarding any information about how it started or how it ended: just how it happened as it happened. Preterite is used to contemplate the result of a past action after everything was all over.
Forget about pseudo-rules. This is what the distinction is all about: it is a matter of perspective. You can describe past events in either time, but how you want to look at them will determine which tense to use. The reason why imperfect is used for ongoing events is because this tense is about the process and not about its end. You can perfectly use the preterite to describe an ongoing event in the past... but only after it is over.
The use of the present perfect tense (haber + past participle) would turn this short introduction into a short book, so I'll stop here. Suffice to say that the present perfect in British English shares a lot of similarities with its counterpart in the Spanish from Spain.
After winning the lottery, he started drinking.
Después de ganar la lotería, empezó a beber.
empezó = preterit. I believe that in this context the start is a completed action.
Matt's sentence: I was inebriated and exhilarated, I reached for the sky but hit the floor.
Given: My wife came home from work while I was mowing the lawn.
Translation:
Mi esposa llegó a casa del trabajo, mientras yo cortaba el césped.
Reason:
llegó in the preterite because it's a one off/completed action that interrupted another
cortaba in the imperfect because it sets the scene and has no specific time span
New Sentence: The man sprinted along the highway because he had been driving so fast that his furniture had fallen off of the roof of his car and it was now strewn dangerously all over the road.
It had been raining for 3 hours by the time I got home yesterday.
Había llovido por tres horas cuando llegué a casa ayer.
==Past Perfect because of describing a past action that took place before another past action.
New sentence:
The tie he tried on was very expensive.
Edit: Porque había estado conduciendo tan rápido que sus mueble se cayeron del techo de su carro y se desparramaron por toda la calle.
El hombre corrió por la autopista porque condució tan rapido que sus muebles cayron del techo de su carro y fue tirado por toda la calle.
The man sprinted along the highway because he had been driving so fast that his furniture had fallen off of the roof of his car and it was now strewn dangerously all over the road.
its all in the preterit because its a series of actions that happened in the past.
new sentence: it had been raining for 3 hours by the time I got home yesterday
Sentence given I went walking after midnight out in the moonlight.
My translation Salí a dar un paso a la luz de la luna pasada la medianoche. (This was corrected by Gekkosan - thank you!)
Reason for using preterit This indicates a single event that took place at a particular time in the past. Because of the use of "walking" in English it could be confusing, but I think this is describing a single action, completed in the past, after midnight on a particular night.
New sentence I started a new job in April.
