Preterito or Indefinido?

Question

In my wife's book, the "preterito" is named "preterito indefinido". This is because the other tense is named "preterito imperfecto". Would you please comment on that?

wkmbe

Answer 1

Some books label them like this. However, "preterito" is the same as "preterito indefinido." It´s the same tense you know and love. It is used for actions that occured once in the past, or interrupted an ongoing action in the past. You can read up more about its usage here.

"Preterito imperfecto" is also referred to as just "imperfecto" or as I learned, "conditional." This tense is used for things that were ongoing in the past, such as someone´s age, a physical description, etc. You can read up more about its usage here.

thanks again, i was a little confused, not anymore - wkmbe, Mar 14, 2012