Can somebody please explain to me, the difference between preterite and imperfect? (con ejemplos, por favor)
Soy estudiante de español. ¡Esto es el año segundo que estoy aprendiendo el español y lo me encanta! Pero, porque muchas personas en mi clase no entienden muchas cosas sobre el español, la Señora no tiene el vez para explanar como usar 'preterite' y 'imperfect'. // I am a Spanish student. This year is the second year that I am learning Spanish and I love it! But, because many people in my class don't understand many things about Spanish, the teacher doesn't have the time to explain how to use preterite and imperfect.
I'm a bit too curious! 
4 Answers
Ok My friend .. I am sorry my computer was out of order so I couldn't explain you the concept in detail earlier .. (can't type too much on my phone's little touch screen). Now my Computer is up and running .. So fasten your seat belts : Let me take you on a grammar ride 
Let us talk about both of these tenses one at a time :
1st "The Imperfect Tense (El Pretérito imperfecto) is a tense used to communicate certain circumstances about actions occurring in the past. One of these circumstances is the **unspecified duration of length of the action and another is how frequently the action took place**** .. So in a nutshell **The Pretérito imperfecto is a tense of indeterminate duration The beginning and ending of the action is neither specified nor necessary for your message.
Example : I used to have a Dog .. Yo tenía un perro. (I may have had the Dog 10 years ago 5 years ago, 15 years ago ,, and I may have had him with me for 20 years for 10 years or for any other length of time .. but that information is either not available or not necessary for our message so the right choice for me was to have used the imperfect tense). I can't use the preterit in this context.
Another Example : Mi perro y yo jugábamos casi todos los días (here I am just saying that I and my dog used to play almost every day.. again no duration specified and no beginning and ending of the action is specified .. all we know is that the action happened or used to happen some time in the past.
The imperfect unlike the preterit does not refer to the specific time the action took place or when the beginning and ending of the action occurred ,, it just tells us about the ongoing duration of the action and the frequency of the action
Following are the two main uses of the IMPERFECT :
- To describe continuing ongoing actions in the past Example : Mi Perro Leo tenía muchos amigos y pocas preocupaciones.
Now the above example tells us about past time through the imperfect conjugation tenía but doesn't tell us exactly when and for how long was my Doggy Leo in these circumstances.
- To indicate actions that took place on a regular basis, actions that were repeated or were habitual or customary in the past. Cuando yo vivía en Nueva Delhi iba al dentista cada mes. .. In this example the imperfect conjugation for vivir tell us that the action was ongoing in the past and used to happen customarily or on a regular basis but doesn't specify the exact time or duration. Well this was the basic use of the imperfect tense but this is not all .. there are some other uses of the Imperfect too but I don't want to flabbergast you with too much doze of knowledge at once .. Let us practice this first and then we will discuss about the other uses of Imperfect and also the Pretérito tense in the next session .. Happy Learning my friend .. Regards, Jimmy
First of all ,, let me suggest you a correction,, lo me encanta is grammatically incorrect on two counts ,, 1st you cant place a direct object pronoun before an indirect object pronoun.. so as per the grammatical order of placement ,, you can say me lo ,, not lo me ... secondly Spanish is acting as a subject here and not a direct object ,, so u cant use a direct object pronoun for it ,, you can either say ,, español me encanta or just me encanta ,, because the subject is understood from your context.
The main difference between ,, pretérito and imperfecto de indicativo is ,, that preterit reffers to a specefic point in time in the past or a sequence of events occuring one after the other.. for example ,,, yo tomé la medicina a las ocho de la mañana.. ( I am referring to the exact time when I took the medicine) ,, tomaba muchas medicina (I used to take a lot of medicines ,, there is no mention of the exact duration or time)...
This is the main difference but there is more .. I suggest, you read some nice grammar article on both of these tenses and then seek clarification if you still have confusion ..
Good Luck
Preterit indefinido is used for an action that gives reference that the verb started and finished in the pass. Imperfecto is used for an action that gives no reference to when it started or finished
Hope this helps.
Google "difference between preterite and imperfect" then choose the site that has the name "StudySpanish" in the link. That website has a nice lesson on the differences between these two verb forms, and when to use each. Once you've read it, come back and ask us to clear up anything that you still have a question about regarding these two tenses. Most users here really don't want to answer this kind of question, because it would involve the equivalent of writing two chapters in a Spanish language learning textbook, to answer your question properly. So, acquire what understanding you can by Googling this question, and then get back to us. We also have lessons here, accessible by clicking on the "Learn" area at the top of your browser. The lessons are listed by subject and you might find the lessons on these two verb forms useful.
