Pretérito vs. Imperfecto
El Pasado - Pretérito vs Imperfecto - Spanish Past Tenses
It is extremely important to understand the distinctions between pretérito and imperfecto in order to use them correctly and thus express past events accurately.
| The pretérito indicates |
| I. | A single event
Fui a España el año pasado - I went to Spain last year. |
| Visité Barcelona el sábado - I visited Barcelona on Saturday. |
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| II. | One or more events or actions that began and ended in the past
Fui a España - I went to Spain. |
| Visité unos museos - I visited some museums. |
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| III. | An event that occurred, interrupting another action (see imperfecto III below)
...cuando me dijeron la verdad - ... when they told me the truth. |
| ...cuando mi hija nació - when my daughter was born. |
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| IV. | Changes in an existing physical or mental state at a precise moment or for a particular isolated cause
Tuve miedo cuando vi el perro - I was scared when I saw the dog. |
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| The imperfecto is used for |
| I. | A habitual or repeated action
Iba a España cada año - I went (used to go) to Spain every year. |
| Visitaba mucho la Sagrada Familia - I often visited la Sagrada Familia. |
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| II. | An ongoing action with no specified completion
Iba a España - I was going to Spain. |
| Visitaba unos museos - I was visiting museums. |
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| III. | Description/background information; set the scene of how things were or what was happening when there was an interruption (see pretérito III above)
Vivía en Costa Rica cuando... - I was living in Costa Rica when... |
| Estaba en mi cama cuando... - I was in bed when... |
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| IV. | General description of physical or mental states of being
Tenía miedo de perros - I was afraid of dogs. |
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| V. | Expression of the time of day or age in the past
Eran las cinco de la mañana - It was five a.m. |
| Era sus cumpleaños; tenía doce años - It was his birthday; he was twelve.
The following list of key words and phrases may help you figure out whether to use imperfecto or pretérito.
Imperfecto: normalmente - usually, de vez en cuando - from time to time, antes - formerly, todos los días - every day, los lunes - on Mondays.
Pretérito: una vez - once, dos veces - twice, tres/cuatro/etc. veces - three/four/etc. times, muchas veces - several times, ayer - yesterday, un día - one day, el lunes - on Monday, bruscamente - suddenly, de repente - all of a sudden.
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