1. PRETERITE VS. IMPERFECT
When to use these past tenses

2. Preterite
SIMBA
• Sequence of events
– I woke up, brushed my teeth, and took a shower.
• Interruption
– I was watching TV when the phone rang.
• Main Event
– It was cold out and snowing. I went sledding.
• Beginning/End of an event
– The game ended at 5:00.
• Action completed
– Yo fui al centro comercial ayer.

3. When to Use the Preterite
• When an action was completed
• When an action was completed at a
specific time
• When an action was completed a specific
number of times
• When an action began or ended
• When an action interrupts another action

4. Phrases that indicate use of the
preterite
• Ayer • Hace (dos días)
• Anteayer • Por la mañana
• Anoche • A las 10:00
• Desde el primer • El martes/lunes/etc.
momento
• Durante (dos siglos) * Parenthesis indicate a
• El otro (día) measure of time that can
• En ese momento be interchangeable.
• Entonces Ex: (El año) pasado
• Esta (mañana) El verano pasado
• (El año) pasado

5. Imperfect
DARE TWO B U
• Description
– My mother was tall.
• Age
– I was 18 years old.
• Repeated Action
– I always got good grades.
– Every summer we went camping.
• Emotion
– I was bored.
• Time
– It was 5:00 in the afternoon.
• Weather
– It was raining.
• Ongoing Action
– My mother was cleaning the kitchen.
• Background information
– It was a rainy and foggy day. My sisters were playing and my parents were reading the
paper.
• Use to….
– I use to love that movie!

6. When to use the Imperfect
• To state in general when an action took place
• To describe background information
• To express weather
• To tell time
• To tell age
• To describe physical and mental states and
conditions, including feelings
• To express habitual actions
• To express what used to happen
• To express what was/were…ing

7. Phrases that indicate use of the
Imperfect
• A menudo • En aquella época
• A veces • Frecuentemente
• Cada (día) • Generalmente
• Nunca • Muchas veces
• Rara vez • Mucho
• Siempre • De vez en cuando
• Casi siempre • Con frecuencia

8. ¡OJO!
• Some verbs change meaning depending on
whether they are in the preterite or in the
imperfect…

9. Verbs that change meaning in the
preterite and imperfect
Preterite Imperfect
• Querer- tried • Querer-wanted
• No querer-refused • No querer- didn’t want
• Conocer-met • Conocer-knew
• Saber-found out • Saber-knew
• Poder-succeeded • Poder-was able
• Tener-received • Tener-used to have

10. Examples of the preterite tense
Paco trabajó en el supermercado hace dos
años.
Paco worked at the supermarket 2 years ago.
Yo leí el periódico ayer por la tarde.
I read the newspaper yesterday afternoon.
Comimos una torta en la fiesta el viernes pasado.
We ate a cake at the party last Friday.

11. Examples of the imperfect tense
Hacía mal tiempo.
It was bad weather.
Yo tenía miedo de la tormenta.
I was afraid of the storm.
Mi abuelo tenía 84 años.
My grandfather was 84 years old.
Mi padre era un chico malo.
My father was a bad boy.

12. Examples of the preterite vs. the
imperfect tenses
Beto estudió anoche.
Beto studied last night.
Beto estudiaba todas las noches.
Beto used to study every night.
Beto estudiaba cuando se durmió.
Beto was studying when he fell asleep.

13. Practice
• Anoche Luís comió/comía unos tacos.
• Hace un año viajamos/viajábamos a Costa Rica.
• Isabel tuvo/tenía seis años cuando aprendió/aprendía a montar la
bicicleta.
• Yo estuve/estaba en la clase de historia cuando mi mamá me
llamó/llamaba.
• Fueron/Eran las tres de la tarde cuando Marco llegó/llegaba a casa.
• Tú siempre sacaste/sacabas buenas notas.
• Manuela fue/era muy simpática.
• El otro día yo fui/iba a la biblioteca.
• Nosotras asistimos/asistíamos a la clase de baile solamente tres
veces.
• 10)De vez en cuando mi mamá cocinó/cocinaba comida china.