LOS VERBOS EN EL PASADO (ESPAÑOL 4)
PARTE 1: EL PRETÉRITO VS. EL IMPERFECTO
In Spanish, we use both the preteriteand imperfect tenses to describe actions that took place in the past. The question is, how do we choose which tense to use?
USES OF THE PRETERITE: (TAKING A POLEROID PICTURE):
The preterite tense is used to indicate a completed action in the past.
IN PARTICULAR, WE USE THE PRETERITE FOR:
- Completed actions stated as a simple fact.
- A list of events in the past without much detail (not setting the stage for a story, just listing the facts).
- Actions which occurred at a specific moment in time/isolated actions. (beginnigs and endings)
Rosa escribió un texto a su novio. Rosa wrote a text to her boyfriend.
This is preterite because Rosa has completed the specific action (writing a text).
Este fin de semana, vi a mis amigos el viernes. El sábado hice mucha tarea, y el domingo, ayudé a mi mamá con la cena. Last weekend I saw my friends on Friday. On Saturday I did a lot of homework, and on Sunday I helped my mom cook dinner.
This is preterite because it shows completed actions as simple facts/list of past events without much detail.
Ana llegó tarde a la escuela.Ana arrived late to school.
This is preterite because it is an action that happened in a specific moment in time/isolated action.
USES OF THE IMPERFECT: (SETTING THE STAGE/DESCRIPTIONS. THE CAMERA IS RECORDING…)
The imperfect tense is used to indicate habitual actions in the past (“I always used to…”), an action that happened in the past but still is true or happening now, or an action that has no beginning or end time. It is also used to “set the stage” or “describe the situation” when you are telling a story.
IN PARTICULAR, WE USE THE IMPERFECT FOR:
- To express what “used to” happen, or happened repeatedly in the past. Words like “nunca,” “siempre,” are used to show habits in the past (imperfect).
Siempre hacía mi tarea cuando era pequeño. I always did my homework when I was little.
This is imperfect because it describes something that used to happen repeatedly in the past
Cuando era niño, yo iba a la casa de mis abuelos cada verano. When I was a kid, I used to go to my grandparents’ house every summer.
This is imperfect because it describes something that I “used to” do every summer. It also has no beginning or end time.
- To describe characteristics of persons or things in the past (descriptions).
Tom era rubio y tenía los ojos azules. Tom was blonde and had blue eyes.
- To describe a state of mind, feeling, emotion, physical condition or attitude in the past (specifically for past actions that do not have a beginning/end time and/or might still reach into the present moment).
María siempre quería ser doctor. María always wanted to be a doctor
This is imperfect because it describes a state of mind in the past that might still be true today. using the verb “querer.”
Ana estaba enferma ayer. Ana wassickyesterday. (physical condition that might still be true)
Mipapáestabamuyenojadoanoche My dad was really mad last night. (emotion that might still be true)
- To express time in the past .
Eran las cinco cuando Paco llegó a su casa. It was five o’clock when Paco arrived home. (time)
- To express a person’s age when an event took place.
Cuando Elena tenía 5 años, fue a Disneyland.When Elena was 5 years old, she went to Disneyland.
This is imperfect because it expresses the time of day in the past. ** notice that “she went” (fue) is preterit because it happened once/was an isolated event.
- Setting the stage/scenery for a story (DESCRIPTION)
Era un día muy bonita y los pájaros estaban cantando en el parque. Estabaandandopor la callecuando… It was a pretty day and the birds were singing in the park. I was walking down the street when…
This is imperfect because it is setting the stage/scenery for my story. I am not just listing simple facts but instead giving details about an event.
- To replace the past progressive (i.e. what was happening - was/were + “-ing”).
Los pájaroscantaban The birds were singing.
This is imperfect because it describes what was happening, using was/were + an “-ing” word (“singing”).
USING THE PRETERITE AND IMPERFECT TOGETHER
Sometimes, as seen in the last example above, the preterite and imperfect can be used together. This most often happens when something WAS HAPPENING when another action interrupts it.
Mónica estaba estudiando cuando su novio le llamó por teléfono.
Monica wasstudying when her boyfriendcalled her on the phone.
EXCEPTIONS TO IMPERFECT RULES:
-WEATHER
-EMOTIONS, PHYSICAL CONDITIONS, STATE OF MIND, ATTITUDES
If you are ONLY stating a fact (no details, such as reading the weather report in the paper) OR if you think of the situation as A COMPLETED ACTION (FINISHED, no new discussion about it), you may use the PRETÉRITO.
ESTAR (pretérito)ESTAR (imperfecto)
yo estuveestabaExamples of PRETÉRITO
tú estuvisteestabasJuan: ¿Por qué no fuiste al baile?
él,ella, usted estuvoestaba (Whydidn’tyougo to the dance?)
nosotros estuvimos estábamos María: Porque estuve cansada.
ellos/ustedes estuvieronestaban(Because I wastired.)
WEATHER (pretérito)(imperfecto)
hizo calorhacía calorNewspaper: Ayer, hizo 65 grados.
hizofríohacíafrío (Yesterday it reached 65 degrees.)
ANOTHER WAY TO REMEMBER:
¡A PRACTICAR!
¿El pretérito o el imperfecto? – ¡Escógelo, escríbelo, y deféndelo!
Indicate the tense you need for each sentence, and state the rule you used to decide whether the underlined verb should be in the preterit or imperfect tense.
Modelo: It was 9 o’clockRegla: time
Eran las nueve.
1.) She wenthome.Regla:
2.) Marisa arrived at three o’clock. Regla:
3.) We used to play soccer a lot. Regla:
4.) He was 25 years old. Regla:
5.) I saw an accident this morning. Regla:
6.) We didn’t go to the beach yesterday. Regla:
7.) We went to the beach every summer. Regla:
8.) They were studying when Carlos called. Reglas:
MÁS PRÁCTICA: ¿Pretérito o imperfecto?
Choose whether each of the following statements would require using the preterit or imperfect tense in Spanish by circling “P” for preterit and “I” for imperfect:
1.)______I ran five miles yesterday.
2.) ______It was four o’clock.
3.) ______He was reading the newspaper.
4.) ______She studied for two hours last night.
5.) ______We wentto Canada every year in the summer.
6.) ______I used to ride my bike all day long.
7.) ______Wow! Wasshe angry! (she still might be angry)
8.) ______You arrived at the hotel in the afternoon.
9.) ______The cat jumped out of the window.
10.) ______He was wearing a black leather jacket.
11.) ______We lost the match.
12.) ______We were so sad. (we might still be sad)
13.) ______They vacationed in Hawaii last year.
14.) ______They always used to vacation in Florida.
15.) ______They never arrived last night.
16.) ______Did you have to work last Saturday?
17.) ______The dog ran after the mailman.
PARTE 2: EL IMPERFECTO
El imperfecto de los verbos que terminan en “-ar”
VerbEndings: hablar – to talk
Yo -aba (Yo) hablaba
Tú -abas(Tú) hablabas
Él/Ella/Ud. -aba (Él/Ella) hablaba
Nosotros -ábamos(Nosotros) hablábamos
Ellos/Ellas/ Uds. -aban(Ellos/Ellas) hablaban
El imperfecto de los verbos que terminan en “-er” e “-ir”
Verb Endings: tener– to havevivir– to live
Yo -íatenía vivía
Tú -íastenías vivías
Él/Ella/Ud. -íatenía vivía
Nosotros -íamosteníamos vivíamos
Ellos/Ellas/ -íantenían vivían
El imperfecto de ser, ir, y ver:
SER – to be IR– to go VER – to see
Yo era iba veía
Tú eras ibas veías
Él/Ella/Ud. era iba veía
Nosotros éramos íbamos veíamos
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. eran iban veían
¡A PRACTICAR!
Fill in the chart below with the imperfect endings for REGULAR verbs.
-ar / -er / -iryo
tú
él, ella, usted
nosotros
ustedes/ellos
Write all the imperfect tense forms of the verbs below.
hablar comer escribir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
llevar tenerdecidir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
cantar querer vivir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
serirver
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
PARTE 3: EL PRETÉRITO
Here are all the preterite forms or regular –ar, -er, and –irverbs:
comprar = to buy(-arendings: é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron)
(Yo) compré
(Tú) compraste
(Él/Ella/Ud.) compró
(Nosotros) compramos
(Ellos/Ellas/Uds.) compraron
comer = to eat(-erendings: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron)
(Yo) comí
(Tú) comiste
(Él/Ella/Ud.) comió
Nosotros) comimos
(Ellos/Ellas/Uds.) comieron
vivir = to live (-ir endings: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron)
(Yo) viví
(Tú) viviste
(Él/Ella/Ud.) vivió (Ellos/Ellas/Uds.) vivieron
(Nosotros) vivimos
(Ellos/Ellas/Uds.) vivieron
–arand –erverbs that have a stem change in the present tense do nothave a stem change in the preterite.
encontrar – to find (ie):Encuentrodinero en la calle.
Ayer, encontré dinero en la calle.
volver – to return (ue):Siempre vuelvo a casa a las cinco de la tarde.
Ayer, volví a las seis de la tarde.
In the preterite, verbs whose infinitive ends in –garor –carhave a spelling change in the yoform. All of their other preterite forms are regular.
pagar yo pagué
llegar yo llegué
jugar yo jugué
sacar yo saqué
buscar yo busqué
tocar yo toqué
¡A PRACTICAR!
Fill in the chart below with the preterite endings for REGULAR verbs.
-ar / -er / -iryo
tú
él, ella, usted
nosotros
ustedes/ellos
Write all the preterite tense forms of the verbs below.
hablar comer escribir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
llevar perder decidir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
cantar correr vivir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
trabajarvendersalir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
LOS VERBOS IRREGULARES EN EL PRETÉRITO
Of course, there are always some exceptions to the rule. In the preterite, there are some verbs that undergo a stem-change and also have some irregularities in their endings. Some of these verbs are:
estar, hacer, poder, poner, querer, tener, venir, decir
Fortunately, these verbs do share some similarities so they will not be that difficult to create and use in your everyday Spanish.
All of these verbs have a unique stem change in the preterite tense:
estar estuvponer pus venir vin
hacer hic querer quisdecir dij
poder pudtener tuvandar anduv
This stem-change applies to all persons in the preterite tense. These verbs have a set of endings different from “regular” verbs:
Yo -e EJEMPLO:Estuve en clase.
Tú -iste EJEMPLO:Tuve un accidente en el carro.
Él/Ella/Ud. -o
Nosotros -imos
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. -ieron
Finally, three last verbs you should know in the preterite tense are:
IR SERDAR
Yo fui fuidi
Tú fuiste fuistediste
Él/Ella Ud. fue fuedio
Nosotros fuimos fuimosdimos
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. fueron fuerondieron
¡Practicamos los verbos irregulares en el pretérito!
- Give the preterite stem for each of the following verbs:
Tener ______Hacer ______Poder ______
Poner ______Querer ______Estar ______
Venir______Decir______Andar______
- Give the preterite endings that go with the above verbs.
Yo ______Nosotros ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella/Ud. ______Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
- Write all six preterite tense forms of the following verbs:
estar hacer poner
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
tener poder venir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______
andar querer decir
Yo ______
Tú ______
Él/Ella Ud. ______
Nosotros ______
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. ______