How do the imperfect and preterite compare? differ/
Preterite vs. Imperfect in Spanish? How do they differ?
4 Answers
Here is a link to a wonderful SD game that will teach you the difference.
It really helped me.
On this website, go to the "More" button at the top. Select "Conjugation" and enter a verb. When the screen shows how the verb is conjugated, there are question mark buttons beside the tense names (preterite, imperfect). Select those question marks and the web site will give you detailed definitions of the tenses.
Hope that helps!
| 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
Welcome to the forum. This is way too big a topic to put in one post. There is a reference section here that explains all the verb tenses pretty well.
