Spanish Preterite & Imperfect Past Tenses

© Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Online - 2013

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect past tenses?

IT HAPPENED = PRETERITE

The preterite lets you look back into the past and see a completed past action neatly encapsulated in the past, over and done with, it

describes what happened.

It’s as if the preterite is the red light that ‘stops’ an action in its tracks.

I ate an apple, it was delicious.

IT WAS HAPPENING = IMPERFECT

The imperfect tense on the other hand lets you see a past action as it was developing, it describes what was

happening.

Like the green traffic light that allows an action to be in ‘progress’.

I was eating an apple when all of a sudden ….

I was eating (imperfect)

VS

I ate (preterite)

Thank goodness that’s over!

But often you can look at the same event from a different perspective.

Let’s see how the imperfect would allow us to look back and see that same event, but this time as it was in progress?

Hablé con mi maestra. I spoke to my teacher.

The preterite is good for describing an action that got completed in the past, allowing us to view it as a past event.

That’s right, the imperfect version would be‘I was speaking to my teacher’.

Hablaba con mi maestra. I was speaking to my teacher.

Oh no, rather than being over, the imperfect has dropped us right into the middle of the action, it’s still in progress, still

developing, not yet completed.

When to use the imperfect tense?

If you view time as a wavy line, this is the imperfect tense.

It describes things as they were happening or it provides the stage of past time on which

certain other completed events happened.

When to use the preterite tense.

If the imperfect is a wavy line then the preterite could be expressed as dots along that line.

Points in time when a state or action happened and was completed at that time, or when one wants to

highlight the beginning or end of a past action.

Use the imperfect tense …

1.To set the stage for another past action. It was a dark stormy night … Era una noche oscura y tormentosa

2.To describe habitual actions I used to eat at the local restaurant. Comía en el restaurante del barrio.

3.To tell the time in the past It was three o’clock. Eran las tres.

4.To state one’s age in the past. I was seven. Tenía 7 años

5.To describe characteristics or conditions. He was tall. Él era alto.

6.For most physical or mental states. I felt sick. Me sentía enfermo.

‘Was / Were + -ing word’ ‘Used to….’

The imperfect tense is often the equivalent of the above …

Yo comía una manzana. I was eating an apple. I used to eat an apple.

Usted comía una manzana. You were eating an apple. You used to eat an apple.

It also often sets the scene for an action in the preterite.

Comía una manzana cuando sonó el teléfono.

I was eating an apple (imperfect tense setting the background)when the telephone *rang.

(NB: ’rang’ is in the preterite tense to indicate an interrupting action that happened on the background set by the imperfect tense)

Use the preterite tense …1. For one off completed actions in the past

(this includes repetition of such actions)

eg. I ate an apple. or I ate an apple and after five minutes I ate another apple.Comí una manzana. Comí una manzana y después de 5 minutos comí otra manzana.

2. For actions that occurred during or at a specific period of time.

eg. Last week I participated in 6 races. La semana pasada participé en 6 carreras.

3. For actions that were part of a chain of events.

eg. I ran down the hall, grabbed my bag and hid under the table.Corrí por el pasillo, agarré mi bolsa y me escondí bajo de la mesa.

4. To signal the beginning or the end of an action, state or feeling.

eg. After I ate the apples I felt sick Despues de comer las manzanas me sentí enferma.

Examples picture the dot on the timeline

Los invitados llegaron a las nueve.The guests arrived at 9 o’ clock

A las seis esta mañana María se levantó, se vistió, y salió de la casa.At six o’clock this morning Maria got up, dressed, and left the house.

El niño empezó a llorar. The child started to cry.

Personal PronounsBefore we get started conjugating verbs in the preterite past tense, let’s just remind ourselves

about personal pronouns.

Those are the words that stand in for nouns (pro + nouns) so that we don’t always have to repeat the noun.

So if your brother’s name (or noun) is John, and you don’t always want to say ‘John’ this, and ‘John’ that’ and ‘John’ the other, you could use his pronoun ‘he’. If you want to talk about ‘John and Anna’

their pronoun would be ‘they’, you and John would be ‘we’ and your pronoun would be ‘I’, etc.

Here are the Spanish personal pronouns

yo = Itú = the informal you

usted = the formal youél = he

ella = shenosotros = we

vosotros = you (informal, used only in Spain)ustedes = the plural you (like ‘you all’ or ‘you guys’)

ellos = they

NB: There are a couple of others such as ‘nosotras’ and ‘ellas’ the feminine ‘we’ and ‘they’ but we’ll leave those for another time.

Now, how to form the preterite tense

For regular –ar verbs (like ‘hablar’)remove the ‘ar’ (hablar) and add the appropriate ending:

for yo add –é (yo) hablé = I spoke

for tú add –aste (tú) hablaste = you spoke

for usted, él or ella add –ó usted habló = you spoke

él habló = he spoke

ella habló = she spoke

for nosotros add –amos (nosotros) hablamos = we spoke

for vosotros add –asteis (vosotros) hablasteis

for ustedes and ellos add –aron ustedes hablaron = you (pl.) spoke

ellos hablaron = they spoke

Hablar

yo hablé = I spoke

tú hablaste = you spoke

usted/él/ella habló = you spoke, he spoke, she spoke, it spoke

nosotros hablamos = we spoke

vosotros hablasteis = you spoke (pl. inf. Spain)

ustedes/ellos hablaron = you (pl.) spoke, they spoke

Those endings work for all regular –ar verbs

yo trabajé = I worked

tú trabajaste = you worked

usted/él/ella trabajó = you worked, he worked, she worked

nosotros trabajamos = we worked

vosotros trabajasteis – you worked (pl. inf. Spain)

ustedes/ellos trabajaron = you (pl.) worked, they worked

Your turn! Te toca a ti

Conjugate ‘aceptar’ (to accept)in the preterite tense.

yo acept…tú acept…

usted, él, ella acept…nosotros acept…vosotros acept…

ustedes, ellos acept…

How did you do?

Aceptar = to accept

yo aceptétú aceptaste

usted, él, ella aceptónosotros aceptamosvosotros aceptasteis

ustedes, ellos aceptaron

Some pronouns can be omitted

Did you notice that the ‘yo’, ‘tú’, ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’ conjugations are unique?

yo hablé = I spoke

tú hablaste = you spoke

nosotros hablamos = we spoke

vosotros aceptasteis = you spoke (pl. inf. Spain)

For this reason you often don’t need to say or write the pronoun.

‘Hablé’ can only mean ‘I wrote’ so you don’t need to use the ‘yo’.

‘Hablaste’ can only mean ‘you spoke’ so you don’t need to use the ‘tú’ etc.

Sometimes you need to use the pronouns

The other two conjugations are shared.

usted/él/ella habló = you spoke, he spoke, she spoke – 3 for the price of one

ustedes/ellos hablaron = you (pl.) spoke, they spoke – two for the price of one

So ‘habló’ could mean ‘you spoke’, ‘he spoke’, ‘she spoke’ etc and ‘hablaron’ could mean ‘you (pl.) spoke’ or ‘they spoke.

Sometimes your context will make it obvious who you’re talking about and in that case you can drop the pronoun.

But if there’s any ambiguity, if it’s not obvious who you’re talking about, then you’re better to use the pronouns …

usted, él, ella, nosotros or ellos.

Feel free to try a few more!Here are some common regular –ar verbs ….

Cantar (to sing)Caminar (to walk)Comprar (to buy) Hablar (to speak)

Estudiar (to study)Enseñar (to teach)

Llamar (to call)Llegar (to arrive)

Preguntar (to ask for information)Tomar (to take, to drink)

Trabajar (to work)

How did you do?Cantar = to sing Caminar = to walk

yo canté yo caminé

tú cantaste tú caminaste

usted, él, ella cantó usted, él, ella caminó

nosotros cantamos nosotros caminamos

ustedes, ellos cantaron ustedes, ellos caminaron

Feel free to check any other verb conjugation here:http://www.123teachme.com/spanish_verb_conjugation

Hopefully now you’re getting the hang of conjugating regular –ar verbs into the preterite past tense.

Now let’s look at the regular -er and -ir verbs

Remove the ‘er’ or ‘ir’ and add the appropriate ending:(eg. comer, escribir)

For yo add –ícomí, escribí

For tú add –istecomiste, escribisteFor usted, él or ella add –ío comío, escribióFor nosotros add –imoscomimos, escribimosFor vosotros add –isteiscomisteis, escribisteisFor ustedes and ellos add –ieron comieron, escribieron

Comer

yo comí = I atetú comiste = you ate

usted/él/ella comió = you ate, he ate, she atenosotros comimos = we ate

vosotros comisteis = you ate (pl. inf. Spain)ustedes, ellos comieron = we (pl.) they ate

Escribir

yo escribí = I wrote

tú escribiste = you wrote

usted/ella/él escribió = you wrote, he wrote, she wrote, it wrote

nosotros escribimos = we wrote

vosotros escribisteis = you wrote (pl. inf. Spain)

ustedes/ellos escribieron = they wrote

Your turn …

Conjugate ‘entender’ (to understand) in the preterite tense:

yo entend…tú entend …

usted, él, ella entend…nosotros entend…vosotros entend…

ustedes, ellos entend…

Answers ….Entender = to understand

yo entendí = I understood

tú entendiste = you (tú) understood

usted/él/ella entendió = you (usted), he, she, it understood

nosotros entendimos = we understood

vosotros entendisteis = you understood (pl. inf. Spain)

ustedes/ellos entendieron = you (pl.), they understood

Feel free to try a few more …

aprender = to learnasistir = to attendbeber = to drink

compartir = to sharecomprender = to understand

decidir = to decidepermitir = to permitrecibir = to receive

vender = to sell

Four important irregular conjugations

ser ir dar hacer

yo fui fui di hice

tú fuiste fuiste diste hiciste

usted, él, ella fue fue dio hizo

nosotros fuimos fuimos dimos hicimos

vosotros fuisteis fuisteis disteis hubísteis

ustedes,ellos fueron fueron dieron hicieron

Try completing these sentence.The boy went to town.

El chico _____ (ir) al centro.

The man was a carpenter (but he isn’t anymore).El hombre ____ (ser) un carpintero.

We went to Ecuador last year.______ (ir) a Ecuador el año pasado.

Each group was given several documents. (to them they gave)A cada grupo les _______ (dar) varios documentos.

What did you do yesterday?¿Qué ______ (tú/hacer) ayer?

Who did it?¿Quién lo _____ (hacer) ?

How did you do?The boy went to town.El chico fue al centro.

The man was a carpenter (but he isn’t anymore).El hombre fue un carpintero.

We went to Ecuador last year.Fuimos a Ecuador el año pasado.

Each group was given several documents. (to them they gave)A cada grupo les dieron varios documentos.

What did you (tú) do yesterday?¿Qué hiciste ayer?

Who did it?¿Quién lo hizo?

How to form the imperfect tense

For regular –ar verbs remove the ‘ar’ and add the appropriate ending:

For yo add –aba (Yo) hablaba = I was speakingFor tú add –abas (Tú) hablabas = You were speakingFor usted, él and ella add –aba Usted hablaba = You were speaking

Él hablaba = He was speaking

Ella hablaba = She was speakingFor nosotros add –abamos (Nosotros) hablabamos = We were speakingFor vosotros add – abais (Vosotros) hablabais = You (pl.) were speakingFor ustedes and ellos add –aban Ustedes hablaban = You (pl.) were speaking

Ellos hablaban = They were speaking

Hablar

(yo) hablaba = I was speaking, I used to speak

(tú) hablabas = you were speaking, you used to speak

usted/él/ella hablaba =

you were speaking, you used to speak, he/she was speaking, he/she used to speak

(nosotros) hablábamos = we were speaking, we used to speak

vosotros hablabais = you were speaking, you used to speak (pl. inf. Spain)

ustedes/ellos hablaron =

you (pl.)were speaking, you used to speak, they were speaking, they used to speak

NB: Just as with the preterite tense you can often omit the personal pronouns, especially when using the ‘yo’, ‘tú’, ‘nosotros’ and vosotros forms.

Your turn …

Conjugate terminar (to finish) in the imperfect tense.

yo termin… tú termin…

usted, él, ella termin…nosotros termin…vosotros termin…

ustedes, ellos termin…

How did you do?

(yo) terminaba (I was finishing, I used to finish etc)

(tú) terminabas (you were finishing, you used to finish etc)

usted/él/ella terminaba (you were finishing, he, she, it was finishing, you etc used to finish)

(nosotros) terminábamos (we were finishing, we used to finish)

(vosotros) terminabais (you (pl. Spain) were finishing, you used to finish)

ustedes/ellos terminaban (you/they were finishing, you/they used to finish)

To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect tense

Remove the ‘er’ or ‘ir’ and add the appropriate ending:

For yo add –íaFor tú add –íasFor usted, él and ella add –íasFor nosotros add –íamosFor vosotros add –íamosFor ustedes or ellos add -ían

Comer / Escribir

yo comía yo escribíatú comías tú escribíasusted/él/ella comía usted/él/ella escribíanosotros comíamos nosotros escribíamosvosotros comíais vosotros escribíaisustedes/ellos comían ustedes/ellos escribían

Your turn

Conjugate entender (to understand) and venir (to come) in the imperfect tense.

How did you do?

Entender Venir

(yo) entendíavenía

(tú) entendíasvenías

usted, él, ella entendíavenía

(nosotros) entendíamosveníamos

ustedes/ellos entendíanvenían

So now lets make some sentences..1. I was cooking when the telephone rang.

________ (cocinar) cuando ____ (sonar) el teléfono.

2. What was the man like?¿Cómo ____ el hombre?

3. He was tall and handsome.Él ____ alto y guapo.

4. I read a book, ate an apple and went to sleep.____ (leer) un libro, _____ (comer) una manzana y me ______ (dormirse).

5. I was reading a book when the lights went out.______ (leer) un libro cuando las luces se ________ (apagar).

6. I saw my mum yesterday.____ a mi mamá ayer.

How did you do?1. I was cooking when the telephone rang.

Cocinaba cuando sonó el teléfono.

2. What was the man like?¿Cómo era el hombre?

3. He was tall and handsome.Él era alto y guapo.

4. I read a book, ate an apple and went to sleep.Leí un libro, comí una manzana y me dormí.

5. I was reading a book when the lights went out.Leía un libro cuando las luces se apagaron.

6. I saw my mum yesterday.Vi a mi mamá ayer.

Well done!

If you would like some more practice feel free to use our flashcard sets.

The Preterite Conjugations for ser, ir, dar and hacerTime Expressions often used with the Imperfect Past TenseTime Expressions often used with the Preterite Past Tense

Or practice reading a story that is written using mainly the preterite and imperfect tenses.

http://learnenglishspanishonline.com/que-paso-y-que-pasaba-what-happened-and-what-was-happening/

If you have any questions or would like some personal language lessons via Skype feel free to email us at thelanguagetutors@gmail.com

© Marie-Claire Hunter, Learn English Spanish Online, 2013