What is the difference between the preterit and the imperfect in Spanish?

Answer 1

Imagine the preterite as a series of snapshots in time. It describes completed actions in the past with a clear beginning and end. Think of it as answering the question "when" something happened.

1. Examples:
2. Comí un sándwich a mediodía. (I ate a sandwich at noon.) - Specific time (noon) indicates a completed action (eating).
3. Viajé a España el año pasado. (I traveled to Spain last year.) - Last year defines the timeframe of the completed action (traveling).
4. Time markers often used with the preterite: ayer (yesterday), hoy (today), anoche (last night), la semana pasada (last week), en 2020 (in 2020), etc.

The Imperfect: Ongoing Actions or Habitual States in the Past

The imperfect sets the scene. It describes ongoing actions in the past that didn't have a clear beginning or end, or habitual states that existed in the past.

1. Examples:
2. Vivía en una pequeña casa cuando era niño. (I lived in a small house when I was a child.) - "Lived" describes an ongoing state throughout childhood.
3. Solía caminar al parque todos los días. (I used to walk to the park every day.) - "Walked" refers to a repeated action without a specific timeframe.

Answer 2

Hi,

The preterite is used for actions that have already been completed and for events that occurred at a specific time.

Example:

1. Ayer yo fui al cine.
2. El año pasado yo viajé a España.
3. Yo llegué, comí y me marché.

The imperfect is used for actions in progress, to describe the state of something, or for habitual actions.

Example:

1. Yo estaba leyendo cuando sonó el teléfono.
2. La casa era grande y tenía un jardín hermoso.
3. Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.

Answer 3

Both the Preterit and Imperfect tenses refer to past events, but they are used in different contexts.

Preterit Tense: This tense is used to describe an event that has a definite beginning and end. For example, “Yesterday I ate a salad for lunch” (Ayer comí una ensalada). The action is completed and specific in terms of time.

Imperfect Tense: This tense is used for events that occurred in the past but are more vague about timing and frequency. For example, “When I was a kid, I would eat Lunchables” (Cuando era niña, comía Lunchables). The listener understands that eating Lunchables was a recurring event, but the exact details and timing are not specified.

These phrases can help signal whether you need to use the Preterit for specific, completed actions or the Imperfect for ongoing or habitual past actions.

Preterit:

1. Ayer (yesterday)
2. Anteayer (the day before yesterday)
3. Esta mañana (this morning)
4. Hoy por la tarde (this afternoon)

Imperfect:

1. Cuando era niño/a (when I was a child)
2. Siempre (always)
3. A menudo (often)
4. Mientras (while)

Answer 4

When I think of the preterite vs the imperfect, I tend to imagine it as if you are watching a screen play. The imperfect describes what was happening in the background of the scene, i.e. describing the time of day, weather, ages, emotional states, what actions used to take place in the past and still continue in the present, etc. By contrast, the preterite is the action scenes that took place within the imperfect background scene.

For example, the sentence "When I was eleven, I danced" would be the imperfect since it was something you used to do in the past but do not continue to do now. In Spanish, it would be "Cuando tenía (tener imperf) once años, yo bailaba".

Another example, "It was a dark and stormy night when suddenly a figure emerged and rang the doorbell". This would be an example of the imperfect being interrupted by the preterite since the first half of the sentence sets the background scene while the second half details the actions that took place in that particular moment. In Spanish, it would translate to: "Era (ser imperfect) una noche oscura y tormentosa cuando de repente una persona apareció y hizo (preterite 3rd sing of hacer) sonar el timbre".

Answer 5

The preterit focuses on specific, completed actions or events, while the imperfect provides a backdrop, focusing on ongoing or habitual actions and descriptions.

Examples:

1. Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días. (Imperfect: habitual action)
2. Ayer jugué al fútbol con mis amigos. (Preterit: completed action)
3. Mientras ella cocinaba, yo estudiaba. (Imperfect: ongoing actions)
4. Ella cocinó una cena deliciosa anoche. (Preterit: completed action)

Answer 6

The simple past tense or preterit is used to talk about past actions that were already completed, with clear beginnings or endings.

Example: Fuimos a la tienda ayer. (We went to the store yesterday.)

Estudié anoche. ( I studied last night.)

The imperfect is used when:

To speak about past actions that were habitual or routine.

To speak about an ongoing past action that was interrupted.

To describe past characteristics (age, height, etc.)

To describe past conditions.

To describe past feelings.

Example: Iba a la tienda todos los sabados. ( I went to the store every Saturday.)

Estudiaba todas las noches. (I studied every night.)

Hacia frio todo el invierno. (It was cold all winter.)