When is preterite used

Lucky for you, there are also a bunch of words and phrases that tend to signal that a verb should be used in the imperfect! These past tense forms are often used to talk about an ongoing action or event that was interrupted.

Here, the interrupted action uses the imperfect tense, while the interrupting action uses the preterite. I was walking to the library when I met the love of my life. Juana and Alberto were talking about the meeting when I got to the office. The rule of thumb for determining which tense to use is that the preterite talks about what you did, and the imperfect talks about what you were doing or what you used to do.

Notice how the meaning changes for these verbs in the preterite vs the imperfect. To test your knowledge of when to use the preterite versus the imperfect, fill in the blank s by correctly conjugating the verbs in parenthesis.

Looking for some more ways to study and practice with the past tense in Spanish? Here are a few fun ideas:. Mastering Spanish grammar is tough! Practicing with another person who can give you feedback and constructive criticism is one of the most efficient ways to improve.

Homeschool Spanish Academy offers flexible and fun Spanish classes for every level. Our native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala are eager to assist you in communicating about the past, present, and future.

Sign up now for a free trial to see how quickly you can gain Spanish fluency. The preterite is used to describe actions which have been completed. To form the preterite in Spanish with regular verbs, remove the -ar , -ir , or -er and add the appropriate ending from the chart below. Adding temporal expressions such as ayer yesterday helps speakers distinguish when something took place. Irregular Preterite Verbs All regular verbs can be transformed into the preterite tense easily.

Irregular verb conjugations take some memorization. When to Use Preterite or Imperfect? The Regular Conjugations: Use preterite in Spanish to answer the question: what happened?

On the other hand, the imperfect is use for indefinite lengths of time; Definite period of time: De a , vivi en esa casa grande. You can use the following adverbs associated with each of the past tenses: NOTE : Usually, when verbs like ser, tener, poder, querer , and saber are in a past narration, they will be in the imperfect, since they most likely describe a past state of being or condition.

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