Imperfecto and preterite
Okay guys, I need your best tips right now! How will I ever learn the difference between preterite and imperfecto? How do YOU think in this case? I appreciate every single help! Thanks <3
3 Answers
The preterite is usually something that happened in the past and was a singular event with a defined time frame. Examples:
- Yesterday, I went to the cinema. --- Ayer fui al cine. He played the piano last week --- La semana pasada tocó el piano.
However if you are discussing something that you did or that happened in the past CONTINUOUSLY, then you use the imperfect. For anything that you used to do and can usually say "I used to...", you use the imperfect. It is something that happened more than once, and is over a continuous time frame instead of a single pin pointed moment in time. Examples:
- When I was younger, I used to play the piano --- Cuando era pequeña (yo) tocaba el piano.
Iba a clases de baile. --- I used to go to dance classes. (Cuando era pequeña is often used to describe things you used to do and is mostly used with the imperfect tense. Imperfect is used because you used to be small)
Using the preterite and saying: "fui a un clase de baile" would mean that you went to a dance class once, e.g yesterday or last week.
More examples:
Cuando fui a Inglaterra llovía mucho - When I went to England (preterite used as it is an isolated event and you are talking about a specific time when you went to England) it rained a lot (imperfect as you are referring to the continuous rain throughout your stay in England).
But if you said: Llovió un día en España. --- It rained one day in Spain, then you are talking about one specific day, instance or time period that it rained, so the preterite is used.
Another instance where you use the imperfect is in the case of an INTERRUPTION.
- Cocinaba la cena cuando me llamaste --- I was cooking supper when you called me. The imperfect is used to describe the action that was happening BEFORE it was interrupted.
- Llegaron cuando estaba en la ducha --- They arrived when I was in the shower.
There are rules that you have to learn, but you get better with practice. I hope this wasn't too confusing and sorry that it is so long, but I hope it was helpful. Feel free to ask for any clarifications.
Buena suerte
Welcome to the forum.
Given your user name and that Annie responded to your question in Swedish I assume Swedish is you first language and from the way you have expressed yourself you are advanced or fluent in English.
Can you add your level of English and Spanish to your profile? Your gender and the country where you are based is also helpful. Anything else is up to you. What I have suggested is helpful for anyone answering your questions and when you answer a question for assessing it.
I have seen lots of questions and answers from regular posters so have an idea of their strengths and weaknesses but if I were to ask a question about a tricky Spanish point or colloquial word I put more weight on an answer from someone who is fluent in Spanish and if my question is about Spain from someone who lives or has lived there.
When I was first taught the past tenses our teacher drew a timeline eg started and ended in the past and things which may still be continuing, there were also continuing actions which were interrupted by a one off action. Eg she was cooking dinner [imperfect] when ... In addition there are compound tenses for older things
I am revising the use of the subjunctive at the moment.
Generally imperfect is used for things you usually do, descriptions and scene setting.
Here is a short guide from this site:
Here are some songs. I love listening to music
- Jarabe de palo - en lo puro no hay futuro
- Joan Serrat - Mi niñez
NB both of these are from Spain
This site has loads of helpful information:
and this blog is useful:
Finally a Dutch site with lots of information and tests
I have assumed you do not have a teacher. If you do be guided by them and ask if you do not understand. If you are self teaching try and find a teacher for some lessons
NB there is another past tense preterito perfecto which is formed with haber + past participle. This is used a lot in Spain but less so in Mexico and Latin America.
Just get used to hearing how the tenses fit together.
All of these tips are things that helped me when learning the difference between pret/imp. One more thing that might help are some outliers in the imperfect that are often descriptive words. I learned the acronym FHTLDEE as (few have trouble loving dead evil Elvis), a bit strange but it helped me remember some examples of "imperfecto situations."
F - fecha: Era el 5 de mayo.... H - hora: Eran las tres... T - tiempo: Hacía calor L - locación: Estaba en la cocina cuando.... D - descripción: Era una noche oscura... E - emoción: Estaba triste cuando... E - edad: Cuando tenía once años....
Hopefully this helps some! Also for English translation, the categories above are as follows: date, time, weather, location, description, emotion, age.
