Transcript Preterite vs Imperfect

Mrs. O. Pacheco
World Language
Spanish III
 Spanish
has two past tenses: preterite and imperfect.
Most verbs can be put into either tense, depending
upon the meaning.
 Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in
the past that are seen as completed. Use of the
preterite tense implies that the past action had a
definite beginning and definite end.
 Note: the nosotros form is the same both in present
and preterite tenses. But we can usually tell if
someone is referring to the past or present from the
context.
El Pretérito:
• is a past tense (“-ed”)
• talks about what happened
• is a completed action
I went to the store.
I bought a shirt.
I paid in cash.
3
Tomar
Hablar
Comer
Beber
Abrir
Salir
tomhablcombebabrsal4
-é
-aste
-ó
-amos
-asteis
-aron
5
-í
-iste
-ió
-imos
-isteis
-ieron
6
REMEMBER:
• accents on the “yo” form
and the “él / ella / Ud.”
form
•-ar / -ir “nosotros” form is
the same in present and
pretérito
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Unos Irregulares:
buscar tocar
practicar
pagar
jugar
llegar
almorzar empezar comenzar
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The “yo” form of the pretérito
changes to conserve the sound
of the infinitive:
-car
-gar
-zar
“-qué”
“-gué”
“-cé”
“tocé”
“jugé”
“rezé”
9
Por ejemplo:
busqué
buscaste
buscó
buscamos
buscasteis
buscaron
buscar
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Por ejemplo:
pagué
pagaste
pagó
pagamos
pagasteis
pagaron
pagar
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Por ejemplo:
almorcé
almorzaste
almorzó
almorzamos
almorzasteis
almorzaron
almorzar
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There are a fair number of verbs with irregular
conjugation forms in the Preterite. These Irregular
forms in the Preterite are said to have "radical"
changes, that is, vowel and consonant changes in the
root (or stem of the verb.) Furthermore, these changes
occur in all of the conjugations (including the nosotros
form.) These Irregular preterite changes are NOT for
orthographic (spelling) reasons (like the verbs ending
in -Car, -Gar and -Zar) nor are the changes in vowels
similar to regular stem-changing verbs which affect
certain -Ir conjugations in the Preterite. Verbs which
have an Irregular Preterite form have their own
conjugation - different from the established -Ar, -Er/-Ir
Preterite conjugation pattern.
 All Verbs
with grossly irregular changes
in the Preterite follow this conjugation:
 -Ar, -Er, -Ir
•
•
•
•
•
*
Irregular Verbs
Yo-e
Tú-iste
Él, ella, usted-o
Nosotros-imos
Ellos, ellas, ustedes -ieron*
* Verbs with a "J" at the end of the stem
drop the "i" and just use: -eron
 Notice that none of these conjugation endings
have accent marks!












Andar-Anduve anduviste anduvo anduvimos anduvieron
Conducir*-Conduje condujiste condujo condujimos
condujeron
Decir*-Dije dijiste dijo dijimos dijeron
Estar-Estuve estuviste estuvo estuvimos estuvieron
Hacer-Hice hiciste hizo hicimos hicieron
Poner-Puse pusiste puso pusimos pusieron
Poder-Pude pudiste pudo pudimos pudieron
Querer-Quise quisiste quiso quisimos quisieron
Saber-Supe supiste supo supimos supieron
Tener-Tuve tuviste tuvo tuvimos tuvieron
Traer*-Traje trajiste trajo trajimos trajeron
Venir-vine viniste vino vinimos vinieron
 Verbs
that end in -gar change g to gu
 Verbs that end in -car change c to qu
 Verbs that end in -zar change z to c
 Verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, -oer, and uir
change ió to yó and ieron to yeron
 Verbs that end in -ucir are irregular and
conjugated as follows:
• Producir, produje, produjiste, produjo, produjimos,
produjisteis, produjeron
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Infinitive
Stem Change
andar
anduv-
estar
estuv-
tener
tuv-
caber
cup-
haber
hub-
poder
pud-
poner
pus-
saber
sup-
hacer
hic-
querer
quis-
venir
vin-
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 Dar-di
diste dio dimos dieron
• Dar is often humorously referred to as the "cross-
dressing" verb, because in the Preterite Dar takes on
the -Er/-Ir preterite verb endings rather than -Ar verb
endings.
 Ver-vi
viste vio vimos vieron
• Verbs with only 2 or 3 letters, such as Dar, Ser, Ir and
Ver, also do not wear accent marks in the Preterite.
• Remember that Spanish only uses accent marks when
required for pronunciation or differentiation.
 Ir
& Ser-fui fuiste fue fuimos fueron
• Notice that Ir and Ser share the same forms in the
Preterite. This is not as confusing as it may appear.
Since Ser refers to existence and identification, it is
nearly impossible to use this in the Preterite which
handles only completed actions. This preterite
conjugation form will nearly always be Ir (an
action verb) rather than Ser (a descriptive verb)
which is usually conjugated in the Imperfect Past
tense.
• Also the context of a sentence or a conversation
will let you know which is being used. For example:
• Fui al supermercado clearly means "I went to the
supermarket," not *"I was to the supermarket."
 The
imperfect is used for past actions that are
not seen as completed. Use of the imperfect
tense implies that the past action did not have a
definite beginning or a definite end.
To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect,
simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the
following:
-aba
-abas
-aba
-ábamos
-abais
-aban
To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect,
simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the
following:
-ía
-ías
-ía
-íamos
-íais
-ían
hablar
comer
vivir
hablaba
comía
vivía
hablabas
comías
vivías
hablaba
comía
vivía
hablábamos
comíamos
vivíamos
hablabais
comíais
Vivíais
Hablaban
Comían
vivían
 Almorzábamos
juntos todos los días.
We would lunch together every day.
 Las señoras siempre charlaban por las
mañanas.
The ladies would always chat in the mornings.
 Yo
leía cuando entró mi papá.
I was reading when my papa entered. (note that
"entered" is preterite)
 Eran
las siete de la noche.
It was seven o'clock at night.
 La niña tenía cinco años.
The little girl was five years old.
 Remember,
the imperfect is used for past actions
that are not seen as completed. Use of the
imperfect tense implies that the past action did not
have a definite beginning or a definite end. The
imperfect tells when -- in general, an action
occurred.
 Good news! There are only three irregular verbs in
the imperfect. You must simply memorize them.

ser
ir
ver
era
iba
veía
eras
ibas
veías
era
iba
veía
éramos
íbamos
veíamos
erais
ibais
Veíais
eran
iban
veían
 The
imperfect is used for actions that were
repeated habitually.
 The imperfect is used for actions that "set the
stage" for another action.
 The imperfect is used for telling time and
stating one's age.


Most verbs can be put into either tense, depending upon the meaning. The
preterite tells us specifically when an action took place. The imperfect tells
us in general when an action took place.
Some words and phrases indicate specific time frames, and therefore signal
the use of the preterite.
• For example:
ayer (yesterday), anteayer (the day before yesterday), anoche (last night),
desde el primer momento (from the first moment), durante dos siglos (for
two centuries), el otro día (the other day), en ese momento (at that
moment), entonces (then), esta mañana (this morning), esta tarde (this
afternoon) ,la semana pasada (last week), el mes pasado (last month), el
año pasado (last year), hace dos días, años (two days, years ago), ayer
por la mañana (yesterday morning), ayer por la tarde (yesterday
afternoon)…
a menudo (often), a veces (sometimes), cada día (every day),
cada semana (every week), cada mes (every month), cada
año (every year), con frecuencia (frequently), de vez en
cuando (from time to time), en aquella época (at that time),
frecuentemente (frequently), generalmente (usually),
muchas veces (many times), mucho (a lot), nunca (never),
por un rato (for awhile), siempre (always), tantas veces (so
many times), todas las semanas (every week), todos los días
(every day), todo el tiempo (all the time), varias veces
(several times)…




One way to determine if a verb is actually the imperfect is to try substituting one of the following:
• was/were ...ing
• used to ...
• would (meaning used to) ...
The following examples show how to use this substitution test for the imperfect:
• worked in the agency during the day.
I was working in the agency during the day.
• I visited my grandmother every day.
I used to visit my grandmother every day.
• Every afternoon I took a nap.
Every afternoon I would take a nap.
One does not normally think of a general mental state or physical sensations as having a definite
beginning or end, and so they are usually expressed in the imperfect.
• Ramón tenía miedo de hablar en público.
Ramón was afraid to speak in public.
• Yo creía que Juan podía hacerlo.
I thought that Juan could do it.
• Me gustaba el coche.
I liked the car. (The car was pleasing to me.)
The imperfect is used to describe how things were or what things were like. Use the imperfect when
describing the characteristics of people, things or conditions.
• Era un muchacho muy inteligente.
He was a very intelligent boy.
• Era una señorita muy guapa.
She was a beautiful young lady.
• Las ventanas estaban abiertas.
The windows were open.
• La casa era blanca.
The house was white.

The preterite is used for actions that are viewed as completed, while the
imperfect is used for actions that did not have a definite beginning or a
definite end.
Estudié dos horas.
I studied two hours.
(completed action)
• Yo estudiaba antes de los exámenes.
• I used to study before the tests.
(no definite beginning or end)
•
•

Some verbs actually change meaning, depending upon whether they are
used in the preterite or the imperfect. This is not surprising, since the
difference in meaning can be traced back to the different way in which
these two past tenses are used.
•
•
•
•
•
•
conocer
Querer
no querer
saber
Poder
tener
CONOCER




Conocí a Juan hace cinco
años.
I met Juan five years ago.
(completed action)
En aquella época
conocíamos muy bien la
ciudad.
At that time we knew the
city very well.
(no definite beginning or
end)
QUERER




María quiso comprar la
casa.
Maria tried to buy the
house.
(completed action)
Juan quería comprar la
casa.
Juan wanted to buy the
house.
(no definite beginning or
end)
NO QUERER




María no quiso comprar la
casa.
Maria refused to buy the
house.
(completed action)
Juan no quería comprar la
casa.
Juan did not want to buy
the house.
(no definite beginning or
end)
SABER




María lo supo ayer.
Maria found out yesterday.
(completed action)
Juan sabía que María
venía.
Juan knew that Maria was
coming.
(no definite beginning or
end)
PODER




María pudo levantar la
mesa.
Maria succeeded in lifting
the table.
(completed action)
Juan podía participar en la
manifestación.
Juan was able to
participate in the
demonstration.
(no definite beginning or
end)
TENER




María tuvo una carta de su
mamá.
Maria received a letter
from her mom.
(completed action)
Juan tenía un coche nuevo.
Juan used to have a new
car.
(no definite beginning or
end)
THE PRETERITE IS USED IN THE
FOLLOWING SITUATIONS:





For actions that can be
viewed as single events
For actions that were
repeated a specific number
of times
For actions that occurred
during a specific period of
time
For actions that were part of
a chain of events
To state the beginning or
the end of an action
THE IMPERFECT IS USED IN
THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS:







For actions that were repeated
habitually
For actions that "set the stage"
for another past action
For telling time
For stating one's age
For mental states (usually)
For physical sensations
(usually)
To describe the
characteristics of people,
things or conditions
Cuando yo _____________________ (ser) joven, yo siempre
_____________________ (visitar) a mis abuelos en la costa oeste de
Puerto Rico. Mis abuelos _____________________ (vivir) en una
pequeña casa que _____________________ (estar) enfrente de una de
las playas más bonitas en la isla. Cada vez que yo
_____________________ (llegar) mis abuelos _____________________
(hacer) lo mismo: _____________________ (preparar) una comida
grande y me _____________________ (preguntar) como las cosas me
_____________________ (ir) en la escuela. Yo _____________________
(ir) a su casa por siete veranos consecutivos, hasta que ellos
_____________________ (decidir) mudarse a otra parte de la isla
porque le _____________________ (tener) miedo a las olas que a
veces _____________________ (ser) un poco grandes.