Imperfect VS Preterite 101

Question

I have 2 huge tests coming up, they count as 40 percent of my Final exam grade and they are also counted as regular tests.... So i would LOVE some tips to differentiate between these 2 past forms...

Thanks, (P.S. there is one writing and one speaking part)

Abhinair66

Answer 1

If you're telling a story, the preterit is what moves the story along.

"I shut the door, then I went to my bed. I opened my book."

The imperfect, though, will give you some kind of background information.

"I shut the door as my sister was speaking to me Then, I went to my bed, which was a mess. I opened my book, which had a brown cover on it."

The phrases marked by the * would be imperfect. I know it's kind of a bare bones example, but that's what helped me learn.

Thanks mate , that helped me a lot. - ray76, May 22, 2013

Answer 2

As a student of Spanish I think you probably already know that the preterite is used for Completed actions that have an identifiable end isolated or unique events Actions that were repeated or occurred a specific number of times Something that occurred during a specific time period Actions that were part of a chain of events

The imperfect tense used for Repeated, habitual or routine actions An on-going event or what gives the background for something that occurred Descriptions of past places, persons or things

Use the lessons on this site or other good sites such as studyspanish.com for further study.

Answer 3

OK... I think I understand but I have a few doubts.. This was on my HW and I wasnt sure about the right answer.

1) Nosotros (hablábamos/hablamos) sobre cosas, cuando Rick nos (decía/dijo) sobre otras cosas.

I picked the preterite for the 1st one and imperfect for the second one... If I am wrong please correct me with an explanation.

Thanks, Abhinair66

Answer 4

Perhaps this lesson will help.

Answer 5

I found out I was right on the 1st and wrong on the second one..