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To tell of something that happened once
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To tell of something that happened more than once but with a specific end
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Sp-4 ch 3
Preterite V Imperfect
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| To tell of something that happened once | Preterite — Fui ayer a la tienda. (I went to the store yesterday.) Escribí la carta. (I wrote the letter.) |
| To tell of something that happened more than once but with a specific end | Preterite- — Fui ayer a la tienda seis veces. (I went to the store six times yesterday.) Leyó el libro cinco veces. (He read the book five times.) |
| To tell of past habitual or repeated actions | Imperfect— Iba a la tienda. (I used to go to the store.) Leíamos los libros. (We would read the books.) Lavaban las manos. (They would wash their hands.) Escribía muchas cartas. (I wrote many letters.) |
| To indicate the beginning or end of a process | Preterite— Tuvo frío. (He got cold.) El huracán se terminó a las ocho. (The hurricane was over at 8.) |
| To describe a condition, mental state or state of being from the past | Imperfect— Había una casa aquí. (There used to be a house here.) Era estúpido. (He was stupid.) No te conocía. (I didn't know you.) Quería estar feliz. (He wanted to be happy.) Tenía frío. (He was cold.) |
| To describe an action that occurred over an unspecified time | Imperfect— Lavaban los manos. (They were washing their hands.) Cuando José tocaba el piano, María comía. (While José was playing the piano, María was eating.) |
| To indicate time or age in the past | Imperfect— Era la una de la tarde. (It was 1 p.m.) Tenía 43 años. (She was 43 years old.) |
| ayer (yesterday | preterite. |
| anteayer (the day before yesterday | preterite. |
| anoche (last night | preterite.preterite. |
| desde el primer momento (from the first moment | preterite. |
| durante dos siglos (for two centuries | preterite. |
| el otro día (the other day | preterite. |
| en ese momento (at that moment | preterite. |
| entonces (then | preterite. |
| esta mañana (this morning | preterite. |
| esta tarde (this afternoon | preterite. |
| la semana pasada (last week | preterite. |
| el mes pasado (last month | preterite. |
| el año pasado (last year | preterite. |
| hace dos días, años (two days, years ago | preterite. |
| ayer por la mañana (yesterday morning | preterite. |
| ayer por la tarde (yesterday afternoon | preterite. |
| a menudo (often | imperfect. |
| a veces (sometimes | imperfect. |
| cada día (every day | imperfect. |
| cada semana (every week | imperfect. |
| cada mes (every month | imperfect. |
| cada año (every year | |
| con frecuencia (frequently | imperfect. |
| de vez en cuando (from time to time | imperfect. |
| en aquella época (at that time | imperfect. |
| frecuentemente (frequently | imperfect. |
| generalmente (usually | imperfect. |
| muchas veces (many times | imperfect. |
| mucho (a lot | imperfect. |
| nunca (never | imperfect. |
| por un rato (for awhile | imperfect. |
| siempre (always | imperfect. |
| tantas veces (so many times | imperfect. |
| todas las semanas (every week | imperfect. |
| todos los días (every day | imperfect. |
| todo el tiempo (all the time | imperfect. |
| varias veces (several times | imperfect. |
| When you "set a scene" describing what your house or dog used to look like and what your family was like. | Imperfect |
| Think of looking at a photograph and describing the people in it and what they were 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. | Imperfect |
| When you are describing what people were doing (in the process of doing) or used to do or when you describe what it was like when you arrived at the party last night. | Imperfect |
| The ______ is used to describe completed actions in the past. | preterite |
| The _________ is used for habitual actions or ongoing past actions with no reference to beginning or ending. | imperfect |
| Sometimes, these past actions were interrupted by another action: Tú estabas en el área cuando la alarma fue activada. You were in the area when the alarm went off. | imperfect/preterit |
| A past action or state being viewed as in progress. In English we often use the past progressive for this: “was/were ...-ing”. | imperfect |
| Descriptions in past time, that is, what a person, thing, or situation was like. This also includes situations such as giving the time of day, the date, the weather, one's age, etc. (unless a change or the start/end of a state is indicated,preterit | imperfect |
| Mental states (in progress) in past time. | imperfect |
| A past action viewed as being customary or habitual. Note that English often uses “would” or “used to” to indicate this. | imperfect |
| _____ tends to “freeze” an action or state in past time, or to view it as over and done with. It is used to: | preterit |
| Present an action/state in past as completed or as something instantaneous. Note that expressions of time which limit the action to a more or less specific period of time —even a long period such as thousands of years— indicate that the action is being a | preterit. |
| Give a series of sequential actions in past time, that is, “first this happened, then something else occurred, and then...” | preterit |
| Show the start or finish of an action or state, or indicate a change in a state in past time. | preterit |
| Indicate an action as interrupting a previously existing action or stated (usually given in the imperfect). | preterit |
| El pretérito de querer = tried | quisieron |
| El imperfecto de querer = wanted | querIan |
| El pretérito de conocer = met | conociO |
| El imperfecto de conocer = knew | conocIa |
| El pretérito de saber = found out | supo |
| El imperfecto de saber = knew | sabIa |
| El pretérito de tener = got, received | tuviste |
| El imperfecto de tener = used to have | tenIas |
| El pretérito de conocer = met | conocI |
| El imperfecto de conocer = knew | conocIa |
| El pretérito de saber = found out | supe |
| El imperfecto de saber = knew | sabIa |
| El pretérito de poder = did not succeed | no pudieron |
| El imperfecto de poder = were not able | no podIan |
| El pretérito de tener = got | tuvo |
| El imperfecto de tener = used to have | tenIa |
| El pretérito de tener = got | tuve |
| El imperfecto de tener = used to have | tenIa |
| El pretérito de poder = succeeded | pudo |
| El imperfecto de poder = was able | podIa |
| El pretérito de querer = tried | quiso |
| El imperfecto de querer = wanted | querIa |
| El pretérito de poder = managed | pudimos |
| El imperfecto de poder = was able | podiamos |
| El pretérito de querer = tried | quisieron |
| El imperfecto de querer = wanted | querIan |
| El pretérito de conocer = met | conocieron |
| El imperfecto = acquainted with | conocIan |
| El pretérito de saber = found out | supieron |
| El imperfecto de saber = knew (a fact) | sabIan |
| El pretérito de tener = received | tuvo |
| El imperfecto = had, used to have | tenIa |
| El pretérito de conocer = met | conocI |
| el imperfecto = knew | conocIa |
| El pretérito de saber = found out | supe |
| El imperfecto de saber = knew (a fact) | sabIa |
| To emphasize the start or completion of a past action, even, or state (physical or mental) | Preterite |
| To narrate past actions that occurred within a delimited time period or that were repeated a number of times | Preterite |
| To narrate a sequence of completed past actions (implying that one action or even finishes before the next begins) | Preterite |
| To summarize opinions, attitudes, and beliefs about past physical and mental states, actions, and events | Preterite |
| To provide background information, such as weather and time, in which events or actions evolved or occurred in the past | Imperfect |
| To describe actions in progress in the past without emphasis on when they started or ended | Imperfect |
| To express repetitive or habitual actions in the past (what one used to do) | Imperfect |
| To describe things or people (emotions, opinions, attitudes, or beliefs) | Imperfect |
| To anticipate what was going to happen with "ir a + infinitive" | Imperfect |
| To describe one's age | Imperfect |
| "I started to look for work a week ago" | Preterite |
| "I had my first interview yesterday and they offered me a job" | Preterite |
| "I stopped looking for work after accepting the job" | Preterite |
| "I lived in San Antonio for two years" | Preterite |
| "I visited my family in Monterrey many times" | Preterite |
| "We boarded the train very early and traveled many hours until we arrived in California" | Preterite |
| "The trip seemed very long to me" | Preterite |
| "To emigrate was an important decision" | Preterite |
| "It was ten o'clock in the morning. It was very hot that day. There wasn't anybody in the airport." | Imperfect |
| "We were all waiting patiently to board the plane" | Imperfect |
| "Rosa used to go to El Paso a lot to visit her daughter who was living there" | Imperfect |
| "When I was young, out house was small, but my sister and I thought that it was pretty" | Imperfect |
| "Our family was going to emigrate to the United States in 1998" | Imperfect |
| "In 1998, I was fifteen years old" | Imperfect |
Created by:
evykas70
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