Can you use imperfect and preterite in the same sentence?

Question

Hi! If I wanted to say: "the ticket cost $10, it was very cheap" how would I format that? I originally formatted it as "el inscripción costó diez dolarés, era muy barata" but now that I look at it, the tenses don't look right. Would I have to put "ser" into preterite, or does mixing tenses in this case work?

welcome to the forum, :) - 006595c6, Sep 25, 2017

Answer 1

Hello!

This link from 2009 will explain your answer. Can the imperfect and preterite be in the same sentence?

Hope this helps.

Regards!

Thank you! The link was very helpful - Katya0734, Sep 25, 2017

Answer 2

Hello Katya,

Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum

You asked:

Can you use imperfect and preterite in the same sentence? Hi! If I wanted to say: "the ticket cost $10, it was very cheap" how would I format that? I originally formatted it as "el inscripción costó diez dolarés, era muy barata" but now that I look at it, the tenses don't look right. Would I have to put "ser" into preterite, or does mixing tenses in this case work?

I would translate your sentence above simply using the preterite:

¡La inscripción costó diez dólares, fue muy barato!

= The enrollment /registration cost ten dolllars, it was very cheap!

¡El billete costó diez dólares, fue muy barato!.

= The ticket cost ten dollars, it was very cheap!

I am not a native Spanish speaker so I am not saying that the use of the imperfect indicative is wrong in your example sentence, but just that I would have chosen to use the preterite in both cases as the action has already been completed in both parts of the sentence!

Yes, you can use both tenses in the same sentence! Infact, it is very common to set the scene in a story in Spanish using the imperfect indicative then to use the preterite (simple past) to mention something that interrupted that action: for example, something that happened suddenly!

ex: ¡Los niños estaban jugando alegremente en la sala cuando de repente se fueron todas la luces y alguien gritó! = The children were playing happily in the living room (lounge) when all the lights suddenly went out and somebody screamed!

There are many free; short, teaching vídeos created by our teacher Paralee, which includes one on the subject / theme of Preterite vs imperfect. i think that this could be very helpful for you! Here is a direct link to.the specific teaching video:
The links don"t seem.to.be working.The lesson is aprender español 2 The.preterite vs the imperfect

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

Answer 3

La inscripción costó diez dólares, era muy barata" is ok.

Inscripción is feminine.

Thank you! I completely forgot about that:) - Katya0734, Sep 26, 2017