¿PRETERITO O ¿PRETERITO O IMPERFECTO?IMPERFECTO?

A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAST

TENSE VERB IN SPANISH

REPASOREPASO

• SPANISH HAS TWO PAST TENSES:• PRETERITE: FOR COMPLETED

ACTIONS IN THE PAST• IMPERFECT FOR ONGOING OR

REPEATED PAST ACTIONS• NATIVES KNOW AUTOMATICALLY

WHICH TO CHOOSE, BUT WE NEED CLUES TO PICK THE RIGHT VERB.

PRETERITO• ACTIONS THAT ARE COMPLETED OR HAVE A

DEFINED BEGINNING AND ENDING IN THE PAST ARE PRETERITE.

• EX: Martín puso su mano por la ventana del coche.

PRETERITO : Actions in Series• For a series of

actions in the past we also use preterite. (HINT: one action must be completed before you can start the next one)

• El se puso sus zapatos y salió del cuarto.

IMPERFECTO• Use imperfect verbs

for actions in the past that do not have a defined beginning or end.

• Actions that end in “ING” in English are imperfect in Spanish.

• Ex: Fritz was wearing a stupid hat. Fritz llevaba una gorra tonta.

IMPERFECTO para Narración• Use imperfect verbs

to describe the scene, set the stage. Weather, descriptions, emotions, all take imperfect in Spanish.

• EX: Hacía sol.• EX: Los pájaros

cantaban.• EX: Estaba feliz.

IMPERFECTO para LA HORA

• When you are talking about CLOCK TIME in general ALWAYS use IMPERFECT.

• Eran las dos de la mañana.

• Era mediodía.• Era la una.

So Far…• PRETERITO• Completed Actions• One time Actions• Actions in a series• IMPERFECTO• Ongoing Actions• -ING Actions• Describe the scene

actions• Clock time actions.

TIME TO CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW SO FAR…

•Por cada frase, decide si es imperfecto o pretérito y indica tu respuesta.

•Piensa en las condiciones y usa tus apuntes para decidir.

•¿LISTOS?

PRACTICA: A= IMP, B = PRET

• 1. José _________ su tarea en su mochila. (PONER)

• 2. Ellos _________ a la piscina mucho en verano. (IR)

• 3. _________ las 4:30 de la tarde. (SER)• 4. Nosotros _______ en la biblioteca de vez

en cuando. (LEER)• 5. Ayer, yo ________ un libro en la

biblioteca. (LEER)• 6. Por lo general, _________ mucho frío en

Alaska. (HACER)

puso

iban

Eranleíamos

leí

hacía

InterruptionsInterruptions

• When you have two actions in a sentence and one interrupts the other, use…

• PRETERITE for the interruptor or shorter action.

• IMPERFECT for the interrupted or longer action.

• I was watching TV when Nando called.• Nando called when I was watching TV.

Practica: A = Imp, B = Preterite

Tú ____ una fiesta enorme cuando ____ la policia a tu casa.

• 7. A= tenías B= tuviste• 8. A= llegaba B= llegó• Vicente ____ a mi casa cuando yo

____ a su novia.• 9. A= venía B = vino• 10. A= besaba B = besó

tenías llegó

vino besaba

MÁS PRÁCTICA

• Remember whatever gets interrupted is IMPERFECTO, the interruptor is PRETÉRITO.

Alejandro ______ a X-BOX cuando su madre le ______.

11. A= jugaba B= jugó12. A= llamaba B= llamóEl semáforo se ______ rojo cuando yo

______ mi coche.13. A= ponía B = puso14. A= manejaba B= manejó

jugaballamó

pusomanejaba

PRETERITE BUZZ WORDS

• Una vez Once• De repente Suddenly• Anoche Last night• Ayer Yesterday• El/la ___ pasado last ____

• Always use a preterite verb with these words because the action is completed.

Imperfect Buzz Words• Muchas veces many times• A menudo often• Frecuentemente frequently• Todos los + ____ every/all• Cada each, every• Generalmente usually• Siempre always• A veces at times• Nunca never• These words will always prompt you for an

imperfect verb, because they imply repetition.

PRACTICA: Lee la frase y decide ¿preterito o imperfecto?• 15. Mi mamá siempre _________ la cena

para mi familia. • A= preparaba B= preparó

• 16. A menudo tú ______ helado en verano con tus amigos.

• A= comías B= comió

• 17. De repente el coche _______con un árbol. A= chocaba B = chocó

preparaba

comías

chocó

Imperfecto para describir…• Use imperfect to

describe: Conditions, emotions, weather, physical descriptions, personality traits, what was going on in the background.

• Hacía sol. El cielo era azul. El castillo enorme estaba en la montaña.

IMPERFECTO

• Imperfect verbs Imperfect verbs are responsible are responsible for moving the for moving the story story outwardoutward, , they set the they set the scene, give scene, give descriptions and descriptions and offer the stage offer the stage for events.for events.

PRETERITOPRETERITO• Preterite verbs Preterite verbs

are responsible are responsible for moving the for moving the story story forwardforward. . They are used to They are used to tell actions that tell actions that happened.happened.

• They are also They are also used after quotes used after quotes in dialogue.in dialogue.

PRETERITO O IMPERFECTO?• “¡Ayúdame por favor!”

______ la princesa. A = gritaba B = gritó

• El principe ______ la torre. (climbed)

A= subía B= subió

• Ellos ______ felices para siempre.

A= vivían B= vivieron

gritó

subió

vivían

SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONSSIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS

• Two actions that are going on at exactly the same time in the past use IMPERFECT verbs.

• The “buzz” word is MIENTRAS=WHILE

• EX: Pedro lloraba mientras el peluquero cortaba su pelo.

¡PRUEBA! PRUEBA! A= IMPA= IMP B= PRETB= PRET• 21. After quotes• 22. Siempre• 23. Muchas veces• 24. Una vez• 25. Generalmente• 26. De repente• 27.Completed Action• 28. Repeated Action• 29. Frecuentemente

• 30. Sets the scene.• 31. Series of actions.• 32. Interruptor• 33.Describes weather• 34. Clock Time• 35. Describe Emotions• 36. Interrupted• 37. Dialogue• 38. Born and dying• 39. Mientras

Thoroughly confused yet??• No worries… a lot

of preterite vs imperfect is just practicing. The more you do, the better you get at it.

• There is one more scenario we need to explore however…

Think of a traffic light…

• Preterite is like red. You stop and it’s a completed action.

• Imperfect is like green, its ongoing and you keep driving!

The YELLOW light…

Warns you that it’s going to change. Sometimes you slow down, sometimes you speed up.

There are verbs in Spanish that work like the light. If you use them in preterite they mean one thing, if you use imperfect they mean another.

Sometimes you will use one, sometimes the other. Just like the intersection.

YELLOW LIGHT VERBS

• PRETERITO VERBO IMPERFECTO

• To find out SABER to know

• To meet CONOCER to know

• To refuse NO QUERER to not want

• To try and fail NO PODER to be unable

• To succeed PODER to be able to

Pretérito o imperfecto

40) Carlos no _____salir anoche porque tenía que estudiar. (poder)

41) Anita ______el secreto en clase. (saber)42) Yo _________a todas las personas en

la fiesta. (conocer)43) Ella invitó a Carlos pero no ________ir. (querer)44) El niño no ________comer sus

verduras. (querer)45) ¡Nosotros _______ ganar el partido,

somos los campeones! (poder)

podía

supo

conocí

quería

quiso

pudimos