Imperfect Tense vs Preterite tense question
Hi! So I'm trying to learn the difference between Imperfect and Preterite tense. I understand the rules decently but when I was doing some problems in my spanish textbook I didn't understand some of the answers:
Dime, ¿no (ir) a ir al circo? The answer was ibas, but I thought that it would be fuiste because going to the circus has a beginning and end right?
Yo no (tener) problema, el zoológico me gusta mucho. The answer was either tenía or tuve but how can it be both? Problem is a description of yo and therefore is tenía right?
Bueno, el domingo aquí (ser) un día famtástico para quedarse en casa. The answer was fue and I kind of understand that but is "a fantastic day for staying inside" not a description of "sunday"? So in that case would it not be era?
Any clarifcation would greatly be appriciated!
4 Answers
Dime, ¿no ibas a ir al circo?
The translation would be "Weren't you going to go to the circus?" You were planning (for an undetermined amount of time) to go to the circus, weren't you?
Yo no tenía/tuve problema, el zoológico me gusta mucho.
"I didn't have any problem..." Either preterit or imperfect could be used here. I didn't have a problem at that moment or I didn't have a problem in general.
Bueno, el domingo aquí fue un día famtástico para quedarse en casa.
That Sunday was a specific time period that started and ended, so it's preterit.
Some of the distinction depends on the intent of the speaker.
¿Fuiste al circo? - Did you go to the circus (a specific time)?
¿Ibas al circo? - Did you always go to the circus? Did you used to go to the circus? Were you going to the circus (when something else happened)?
As a general place to start, keep in mind that the preterit answers the question what happened, ** whereas the imperfect tells you **what was happening, used to happen, always happened.
These are general guidelines, but they are extremely helpful.
Dime, ¿no (ir) a ir al circo? The answer was ibas, but I thought that it would be fuiste because going to the circus has a beginning and end right?
Your textbook is wrong. Both answers are correct! They just mean slightly different things. With "ibas", the person was going to go, which provides no information on whether he went or not (incomplete). With "fuiste" the person left (completed action), and the person who says that sentence is surprised that he didn't get there in the end.
Yo no (tener) problema, el zoológico me gusta mucho. The answer was either tenía or tuve but how can it be both? Problem is a description of yo and therefore is tenía right?
Both are correct again, but the difference is even more subtle this time. "Tuve" suggets an episode where you could either agree, or disagree (have a problem); potentially, it could be several episodes, if we add something like "Así que fui varias veces". "Tenía" gives no information about time boundaries, so we can only assume how long have you agreed or disagreed with the idea of going to the zoo. As a matter of fact, "tenía" is so "open-ended", that only the context can help interpreting it correctly.
Bueno, el domingo aquí (ser) un día famtástico para quedarse en casa. The answer was fue and I kind of understand that but is "a fantastic day for staying inside" not a description of "sunday"? So in that case would it not be era?
"Tenía" 'withholds' information about specific time frames, which makes it a weird option when you refer to a whole day, which is a very specific time frame. It can be used, but then we'd be forced to interpret the sentence as several non-specific Sundays, if we take "el domingo" as a generic term. "Fue" is a much more logical option.
But both are correct!
I agree with the other posts, but I would add that, at least in my mind, the preterit informs (of a situation or event) while the imperfect describes that situation or event.
For example, ayer compré fruta. If I wanted to describe the event (of buying fruit) I would use the imperfect, Cuando compraba fruta, había una mujer que constante hablaba conmigo.
