What is the difference between Preterito Indefinido and Perterito Perfecto?
Could someone explain the difference here please?
I'm confused because they both talk about the past but I can't see how they are applied to things that have happened or why they would be.
Thank You.
4 Answers
My problem is to understand the difference in meaning , not in the form of the conjugation ,to be found everywhere.
Suppose I speak to somebody , uttering one of the two sentences :
"he comido sopa con pan"
(using the present perfect /preterito perfecto compuesto) or : "comí sopa con pan".
(using the undefined preterit /preterito perfecto simple)
I guess that eating my soup with bread ,will not create, whatever of the two propositions above I use , a commotion to anybody .
But if I declare to somebody,for instance, the simple fact that I thought of him (or her), there could be, to this simple statement with a clear denotation,some different implied meanings , depending on the inter-relational context . (Or, as people in language study use to say, many connotations, each generating to the interlocutor a different perception and , the corresponding emotional response )
Thus, using one of the two tenses could generate different reactions , which for me , just a "principiante" in Spanish , remain totally obscures . From here the problem of selecting that tense which correctly express my feelings, so as to not generate, God forbid, a diplomatic conflict !
I have to apologize for complicating a little these things and, if somebody can help to make them simple and me more Spanish-relaxed , I'll be grateful !
Thanks for efforts ! Some better examples than main, will be greatly appreciated !
My problem is to understand the difference in meaning , not in the form of the conjugation ,everywhere.
Suppose I speak to somebody , uttering one of the two sentences :
"he comido sopa con pan"
(using the present perfect /preterito perfecto compuesto) or : "comí sopa con pan".
(using the undefined preterit /preterito perfecto simple)
I guess that eating my soup with bread ,will not create, whatever of the two propositions above I use , a commotion to anybody .
But if I declare to somebody,for instance, the simple fact that I thought of him (or her), there could be, to this simple statemebt ,with a clear denotation, many implied meanings , depending on the inter-relational context . (Or, as people in language study use to say, many connotations, each generating a different emotional response to the interlocutor )
Thus, using one of the two tenses could generate different reactions , which for me , just a "principiante" in Spanish , remain totally obscures . From here the problem of selecting that tense which correctly express my feelings, so as to not generate, God forbid, a diplomatic conflict !
I have to apologize for complicating things and, if somebody can help to make them simple and me more Spanish-relaxed , I'll be grateful !
Thanks for efforts !
Maybe it would help to study these pages.
The only foreseeable problem with this suggestion lies in the fact that the terminology used in SpanishDict's reference articles differs from that used in the original question.
Just to be clear, the "pretérito indefinido" is more often referred to as the "pretérito perfecto simple," the "pretérito simple" or often simply as the "pretérito." In English, this is often translated variously as the "simple past," "simple preterit" or just "preterit." SpanishDict's reference articles refer to this tense as the preterit
The "pretérito perfecto," meanwhile, is more fully described as the "pretérito perfecto compuesto" (in contrast to the "pretérito perfecto simple" described above). In English, this is often translated as the "present perfect."
If you are unfamiliar with these, it would probably be helpful to review the pertinent reference articles above (at least as a starting point to your studies); nevertheless, in many cases (though not all) the use of each tense is fairly intuitive in comparison to English grammar and is often very similar to the difference exhibited by expressions such as "I have been to Disney World" [perfecto] and "I went to Disney World" [indefinido]
Maybe it would help to study these pages. 
