8.B Preterite vs. imperfect

In Spanish, there are two simple past tenses: the preterite and the imperfect.

In very general terms, the preterite tense is used to refer to a single event that happened at a specific point of time or had a specific duration in the past, while the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing events or events without a specific time period in the past.

The preterite tense is used…

• To describe something that happened once.
  • ■ Cantó una canción. (He sang a song.)
  • ■ Escribí la carta. (I wrote the letter.)
  • ■ I woke up early this morning. (Me desperté temprano esta mañana)
• To describe something that happened more than once, but had a specific end.
  • ■ Fui a cuatro restaurantes la semana pasada. (I went to four restaurants last week.)
  • ■ De niño, fui de camping cada verano. (As a child, I went camping every summer.)

The imperfect tense is used…

• To describe habitual or repeated actions in the past.
  • ○ Siempre compraba en la misma tienda. (I always went shopping at the same store.)
  • ○ Mi abuela me escribía muchas cartas. (My grandmother would write me a lot of letters.)
• To describe a condition or state of being in the past.
  • ○ Estaba contenta. (She was happy.)
  • ○ Había dos edificios aquí. (There used to be two buildings here.)
• To describe an action that occurred over an unspecified time.
  • ○ Hablámos por teléfono. (We were talking on the phone.)
  • ○ Pasaba al perro. (He was walking the dog.)
• To indicate time or age in the past.
  • ○ Tenía 18 años. (She was 18 years old)
  • ○ Eran las ocho y media de la mañana. (It was 8:30 in the morning)
• To describe a person or place
  • ○ Tenía el pelo largo y los ojos azules. (She had long hair y blue eyes.)