Preterite vs. Imperfect

One of the most difficult concepts to grasp in regards to the Spanish language is the preterite versus imperfect tenses.  To this day I still have trouble determining which tense to use when speaking about the past because unlike English, Spanish utilizes two different tenses to refer to past events. 

So here is a recap of how to differentiate between the two tenses and accurately conjugate them.

The preterite tense is used:

-To tell of something that happened once -Escribí la carta. (I wrote the letter.)

-To tell of something that happened more than once but with a specific end - Fui ayer a la playa cinco veces. (I went to the beach five times yesterday.)

-To indicate the beginning or end of a process –La obra de teatro se terminó a las nueve. (The play was over at 9.)

To conjugate verbs in the preterite tense:

-For “ar” verbs, drop the “ar” ending and add

yo- é


tú- aste

él, ella, ud.- ó


nosotros- amos


vosotros- asteis


ellos, ellas, uds- aron

-For “er/ir” verbs, drop the “er/ir” ending and add

yo- í


tú- iste

él, ella, ud.- ió


nosotros- imos


vosotros- 
 isteis

ellos, ellas, uds- ieron

Irregulars:

ser AND ir

Fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis fueron

dar

di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron

hacer

hice, hiciste, hizo),hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron.

estar

estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron.

tener

tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvistieron

poder

pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron.

poner

puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.

querer

quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron

saber

supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron.

venir

vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron

decir

dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron

traer

traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron

*Here are some words that often signal the use of the preterite tense, due to their specific time frames:

ayer

(yesterday)

anteayer

(the day before yesterday)

anoche

(last night)

desde el primer momento

(from the first moment)

durante dos siglos

(for two centuries)

el otro día

(the other day)

en ese momento

(at that moment)

entonces

(then)

esta mañana

(this morning)

esta tarde

(this afternoon)

la semana pasada

(last week)

el mes pasado

(last month)

el año pasado

(last year)

hace dos días, años

(two days, years ago)

ayer por la mañana

(yesterday morning)

ayer por la tarde

(yesterday afternoon)

The imperfect tense is used:

-To tell of past habitual or repeated actions -Escribía muchas cartas. (I wrote many letters.)

-To describe a condition, mental state or state of being from the past -Era estúpido. (He was stupid.)

-To describe an action that occurred over an unspecified time - Cuando José tocaba el piano, María comía. (While José was playing the piano, María was eating.)

-To indicate time or age in the past — Era la una de la tarde. (It was 1 p.m.) Tenía 19 años. (She was 19 years old.)

To conjugate verbs in the imperfect tense:

-For “ar” verbs, drop the “ar” ending and add

yo- aba


tú- abas

él, ella, ud.- aba

nosotros- ábamos


vosotros- abais

ellos, ellas, uds- aban

-For “er/ir” verbs, drop the “er/ir” ending and add

yo- ía

tú- ías

él, ella, ud.- ía


nosotros- íamos


vosotros- íais

ellos, ellas, uds- ían

Irregulars:

ser

era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran

ver

veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

ir

iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban

*Here are some words that signal the use of the imperfect tense, due to non specific time frames:

a menudo

(often)

a veces

(sometimes)

cada día

(every day)

cada semana

(every week)

cada mes

(every month)

cada año

(every year)

con frecuencia

(frequently)

de vez en cuando

(from time to time)

en aquella época

(at that time)

frecuentemente

(frequently)

generalmente

(usually)

muchas veces

(many times)

mucho

(a lot)

nunca

(never)

por un rato

(for awhile)

siempre

(always)

tantas veces

(so many times)

todas las semanas

(every week)

todos los días

(every day)

todo el tiempo

(all the time)

varias veces

(several times)

*Here are some verbs whose meanings change depending on their tense:

Verb	Preterite	Imperfect
Conocer	To meet	To know
Saber	To find out	To know
Poder	To succeed	To be able to
Querer	To try	To want
No querer	To refuse	To not want
Tener	To recieve	Used to have

I hope this review has helped to jog your memory about when to use the preterite and the imperfect tenses.  I think this is probably one of the hardest tenses to fully learn in the Spanish language, but just remember that practice makes perfect!