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.)