PRETERITE VS.

IMPERFECT

Eran las nueve de la noche.  Era viernes.  Hacía mal tiempo.  Llovía.  Todos estábamos en casa.  Mamá y Papá miraban la televisión; yo leía una novela de StarTrek; mi hermana hablaba por teléfono con su novio en su cuarto.  Esnupi (nuestro perro) dormía detrás del sillón en la sala.

It was 9:00 at night.  It was Friday.  It was bad weather.  It was raining.  We were all at home.  Mom and Dad were watching television; I was reading a StarTrek novel; my sister was talking on the phone with her boyfriend in her room.  Esnupi (our dog) was sleeping behind the armchair in the living room.

IMPERFECTO

De repente, ¡Entró un ladrón!  Pasó por la escalera y caminó hasta el dormitorio de mis padres.  Miró en el cuarto cuando oyó la voz de mi hermana.  Se volvió y bajó las escaleras.  Trató de huir de la casa, pero Esnupi se despertó y mordió la pierna del ladrón.

Suddenly, a robber entered!  He went upstairs and walked down to my parent's bedroom.  He looked in the room when he heard my sister's voice.  He turned and went down the stairs.  He tried to flee the house, but Esnupi woke up and bit the robber's leg.

PRETÉRITO

EL PRETÉRITO Y EL IMPERFECTO

If we are talking about the past, how can we decide which past tense to use?

This Venn Diagram sets up the basics…

PAST

PRETERITE IMPERFECT

-one time action

-completed event

-ongoing actions

-events that used to happen

However, there are more detailed reasons when you would use one versus the other

Remembering these acronyms will help you really understand all the detailed differences:

PRETERITE:

IMPERFECT:

EL PRETÉRITO Y EL IMPERFECTO

BOLTSBOLTS

UBOAUBOATT

B—beginning or end of an actionO—one timeL—lightning fast!T—transitionsS—series of events

EL PRETÉRITO

Ejemplosempezar/comenzar—to begin/to startEl hombre empezó a llorar. (The man began to cry.)

Yo empecé a comer. (I started to eat.)

terminar—to end/to finishLos estudiantes terminaron las pruebas. (The students

finished the quizzes.)

BEGINNING OR END OF AN ACTION

B

O

L

T

S

EjemplosYo fui a la tienda la semana pasada. (I went to the store last week.)

Nosotros vimos la película anoche. (We saw the movie last night.)

ONE TIME ACTION/EVENT

B

O

L

T

S

EjemplosYo estudiaba cuando llegó mi amigo.

(I was studying when my friend arrived.)

De repente, ¡el enemigo apereció a la puerta!

(Suddenly, the enemy appeared at the door!)

LIGHTNING FAST! (SUDDENLY)

B

O

L

T

S

*interruption

EjemplosPrimero me desperté y entonces me duché. (First I woke up and then I showered.)

Luego, el principe y la princesa se casaron. (Later, the prince and princess got married.)

TRANSITIONS (FIRST, THEN)

B

O

L

T

S

EjemplosSara cenó, hizo la tarea y se acostó.

(Sara ate dinner, did her homework and went to bed.)

Fuimos de compras, compramos la ropa y regresamos a casa.

(We went shopping the day, bought clothes and went home.)

SERIES OF EVENTS

B

O

L

T

S

anocheayeranteayerun díala semana pasadael mes pasadoel año pasadoel lunes pasado

SOME KEY TRIGGER WORDS FOR THE PRETERITE

last nightyesterday

day before yesterdayone daylast weeklast monthlast yearlast (Monday, Tuesday, etc….)

luegodespuésentoncesde repenteinmediatamenteanything else that has a “mente” attached to the end

that provokes a rapid response within a story (don’t confuse with the ones mentioned in the imperfect tense)

MORE TRIGGERS FOR THE PRETERITE

thenafter (afterwards)then, after thatsuddenlyimmediately

U—“used to”B—background informationO—ongoing actionsA—ageT—tiempo (time and weather)

EL IMPERFECTO

EjemplosYo siempre jugaba al fútbol cuando era niño.

(I would always play/I always played soccer when I was a kid.)

Mi hermano iba a la primaria de Greenman.

(My brother used to go to Greenman Elementary.)

USED TO DO SOMETHING

U

B

O

A

T

EjemplosEl príncipe era muy valiente. The prince was very brave.

Había mucha gente allí. There were a lot of people there.

*había = there was/there were (past of “hay”; from “haber”)

BACKGROUND INFO

U

B

O

A

T

EjemplosElla estudiaba mientras yo tomaba una siesta.

She was studying while I was taking a nap.

Nosotros jugábamos fútbol cuando empezó a llover.

We were playing soccer when it started to rain.

ONGOING ACTIONS

U

B

O

A

T

EjemplosRemember we use the verb TENER to talk

about age!Yo era muy bajo cuando tenía 4 años. I was really short when I was four.

Mis primos tenían 6 y 8 años. My cousins are 6 and 8 years old.

AGE (LA EDAD)

U

B

O

A

T

EjemplosEran las dos cuando llegamos. It was 2:00 when we arrived.

Hacía frío y llovía. It was cold and raining.

TIEMPO (TIME AND WEATHER)

U

B

O

A

T

siemprenuncaUsualmentenormalmentecada (año, verano)todos los díasmientraslos lunesgeneralmentecon frecuencia

SOME KEY TRIGGER WORDS FOR THE IMPERFECT

alwaysnever

usuallynormallyeach/every (year, summer)every day

whileon…(Mondays)generally

frequently

Choose whether the following statements would be considered preterite or imperfect in Spanish:

I went to the store last night.

She used to play with dolls.

They would always eat early.

We cooked dinner at 5:00.

You made cookies yesterday.

When I was 5, I ate cookies every day.

PRACTICA: PARTE 2

PRETERITE

IMPERFECT

IMPERFECT

PRETERITE

PRETERITE

IMPERFECT

When I was ( I / P ) little, my family used ( I / P ) to go camping every summer. Every year we camped ( I / P ) near a beautiful lake and a leafy forest. Last summer, my husband and I decided ( I / P ) to continue the tradition. We camped ( I / P ) in Provo Canyon. There was ( I / P ) a stream near our tent and the mountains were ( I / P ) very beautiful. I was ( I / P ) very scared of bears. The day before I left I heard ( I / P ) many stories about bears eating people on the news. I did not want ( I / P ) a bear to eat me. I did not sleep ( I / P ) the whole night because I was ( I / P ) so scared. The following morning, we got up ( I / P ) early to go on a hike. On the hike we found ( I / P ) a beaver’s dam and a waterfall. We returned ( I / P ) to our campsite and saw ( I / P ) bear tracks all around our tent. I told ( I / P ) my husband that we were ( I / P ) leaving. I was ( I / P ) packing up all of our things when all of a sudden I heard ( I / P ) a growl. I looked ( I / P ) up and saw ( I / P ) the bear in the tree above me. We dropped ( I / P ) everything, ran ( I / P ) to the car, and drove ( I / P ) away.

PRACTICA: PARTE 4

VERB ENDINGS: PRETERITE

-AR -ER/-IR

é

aste

ó

amos

asteis

aron

í

iste

ió

imos

isteis

ieron

VERB ENDINGS: IMPERFECT

-AR -ER/-IR

aba

abas

aba

ábamos

abais

aban

ía

ías

ía

íamos

íais

ían

PRACTICA: PARTE 1

I

P

P

I

I

P

I

P

P

I

P

I

hablar; él/ella

decir; yo

ir/ser; ellos

ir; ellos

ver; tú

dar; yo

comer; nosotros

comer; nosotros

tener; tú

ser; tú

hacer; él/ella

trabajar; yo/él/ella

1. Yo ________________ (ir) a la tienda anoche. _____2. Ella ________________ (jugar) con las muñecas cuando

era niña. _____3. Ellos siempre ________________ (comer) temprano.

_____4. Nosotros ________________ (preparar) la cena a las

cinco. _____5. Tú ________________ (hacer) galletas ayer. _____6. Cuando yo ________________ (tener) 5 años,

________________ (comer) las galletas todos los días. _____

PRACTICA: PARTE 3fui O

jugabaU

comíanO

preparamosO

hiciste Otenía

A / Ucomía