What's the difference between imperfect and preterite?

Question

How do you know when to use preterite vs. imperfect with the past tense in Spanish?

Answer 1

When you describe the past, think of it like a play or musical. You have the actions that take place (picked up, walked, realized, etc.) and the scenery (it was a beautiful day, they were talking, time was passing, etc.). The preterite has a start and finish and the imperfect is like the scenery.

Example:

Él caminaba mientras que pensaba del día. He was walking while he thought about the day.

vs.

Él caminaba cuando, de repente, pensó en algo muy importante. He was walking when, suddenly, he thought about something very important.

The same goes for describing something that happened in the past and how long it lasted. If you have a time duration with "estar" that begins and ends, this will be preterite.

Estuvo dos días sin hablar a su esposa. He went two days without talking to his wife.

If it is a general description or the ¨scenery¨ of the past, something with no start or finish, this will be imperfect.

Estaba muy contento con su esposa durante ese tiempo. He was very happy with his wife during that time.

Answer 2

Also use the imperfect for repeated actions in the past. Take advantage of trigger words or phrases such as EVERY DAY, ON SATURDAYS, EVERY YEAR....

Hablaba con mis vecinos todos los días.

Whenever we say "used to" in English, it's imperfect tense in Spanish. I used to do it. Lo hacía.The preterite is always one word ( hice, pude...etc.) The future perfect is Habré comido ( not abre comido).

The preterite has a clearly defined start and end in the past, with such trigger words as "yesterday, last year and last summer." Last summer I won the lottery = El verano pasado yo gané la lotería. (Preterite).

The imperfect tense deals with 2 aspects: continuous actions in the past and background descriptions. When you read a story and the opening is....once upon a time many years ago, there lived etc etc. All of that is imperfect as you are giving the background information setting the visual stage for what was to take place .

Continuous and habitual actions in the past which may include trigger words like ....every year, every week, each day, frequently and etc. are all in the imperfect. We talked to each other every day would be "Nos hablabamos cada día". Thus imperfect.

Lastly, use the imperfect when saying "used to", and with "times and dates" in the past, and when describing someone in the past.

I'm

There is a structure common with those tenses used together. When something was going on and something else happened, what was going on is the imperfect, and the interrupting action is the preterite. I was eating when you called= Yo comía cuando llamaste. Hopefully this cleared some things up.