Preterite Vs. Imperfect

Preterite vs. Imperfect

I.  When to use the Imperfect

1.  When you “set a scene”, background information

-  Think of looking at a photograph and describing the people in it and what they’re doing. Since the photograph is static, the people in it can’t start doing something different. So, you can only describe the scene you see

2.  When you are describing what people were doing (in the process of doing) or used to do

3.  Habitual or repeated actions (with no set ending)

4.  Moods: Estar + adjective to express mood (triste, feliz, etc)

5.  Time, date, weather, season etc (in the past)

6.  Characteristics – age, size, color, personality etc

7.  Actions that are not yet completed

II.  When to use the Preterite

1.  A single instantaneous event or action

2.  An activity or state of limited duration

-  Ex.) We read the book for twenty minutes

3.  An action repeated a specific number of times

-  Ex.) He called me five times

4.  A series of completed events

III.  Some verbs have different meanings in the Preterite and Imperfect forms

Imperfect / Preterite
Conocer / To have known someone / To have met someone
Saber / To have known something / To have found out something
Querer / Wanted / Tried
No Querer / Didn’t want / Refused
Poder / Was able to (capable of) / Managed to (succeeded)
No Poder / Wasn’t able to (not capable) / Failed to

IV.  Phrases signaling the use of the Preterite

1.  Ayer – yesterday

2.  Anteayer – the day before yesterday

3.  Anoche – last night

4.  Ayer por la manana – yesterday morning

5.  Ayer por la tarde – yesterday afternoon

6.  El otro día – the other day

7.  En ese momento – in that moment

8.  Entonces – then

9.  Esta mañana – this morning

10.  Esta tarde – this afternoon

11.  La semana pasada – last week

12.  El mes pasado – last month

13.  El año pasado – last year

14.  Hace dos…días/años – two days/years ago

-  Can be used with any number and time marker (day, week, month, year etc.)

V.  Phrases signaling the use of the Imperfect

1.  A veces – sometimes

2.  Muchas veces – many times

3.  Tantas veces – so many times

4.  Varias veces – several times

5.  Cada día/mes/año – every day/month/year

-  Can be used with any time marker (day, week, month, year etc.)

6.  Con frecuencia – with frequency

7.  Generalmente – generally/usually

8.  Siempre – always

9.  Todos(as) los(las) semanas – every week

-  Can be used with any time marker (day, week, month, year etc.)

10.  Mientras – while

Draw the timeline that Sr. Juves will write on the board