Preterit or Imperfect

Question

I am trying to form a preterit sentence, is this correct: " Antes, fusimos cada fin de semana al cine"

We used to would normally use the imperfect. - annierats, Jul 1, 2012

Answer 1

The correct pretérito of ir would be fuimos, but it looks like you should say the imperfecto in this case. Of course, it's hard to tell without more context.

Is there any more information you can give us? If not, I would say "íbamos al cine."

I think so too. - annierats, Jul 1, 2012

Sorry about the wrong spelling for "Fuimos" That's the complete sentence. What is confusing me is the word Äntes". Never experience it's use in either form. - Memucan, Jul 1, 2012

no problem, everyone makes typing/spelling errors! in this case saying antes is like saying "before, in the past, we used to" and that is why it needs the imperfecto - unMica, Jul 1, 2012

if you say antes de ... like bandit suggested, then it will more like be pretérito because it tells of a specific event. you can see my example in the other comment "antes de ir a casa" "before going home" as opposed to just antes, meaning "in the past" - unMica, Jul 1, 2012

Muchas gracias. - Memucan, Jul 1, 2012

Answer 2

Maybe if you said "Ayer, fuimos al cine". That way the time frame is defined, and it is a singular event in the past.

With your sentence, you are describing a series of events occurring over time in the past, which would call for the imperfect.

Answer 3

Since you are talking about time our SD dictionary under "before" indicates to use "Antes de".

before --[b??f??(r)] -- preposición
1. antes de (with time)

Notice the spelling is "fuimos".

Since the reader doesn't know when the action of going to the movies, ends, you would use "ibamos", the imperfect past.

"Antes de, ibamos cada fin de semana al cine."

An example of the preterite: "Yesterday, we went to the movies."

The preterit has a definite beginning and ending.

Ayer, fuimos al cine.

if you're going to say antes "de," then you must say the event. for example, before going home (antes de ir a casa). otherwise, antes can be fine by itself depending on the sentence - unMica, Jul 1, 2012

I agree with unMica :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 1, 2012