El pret

1
El pretérito y el imperfecto

• Como y cuando usar los tiempos pasados en
  español

2
El pretérito

• Generally speaking, the preterit is used for
  actions in the past that are seen as completed.
  Use of the preterit tense implies that the past
  action had a definite beginning and definite end.
  
• For example
• Compré uno zapatos para mi hijo. I bought a pair
  of shoes for my son.
• Dónde comió usted ayer? Where did you eat
  yesterday?
• Comí en casa de Carlos y hablé con su padre. I
  ate at Charless house and spoke with his father.

3
El pretérito

• The preterit is used for past events that
  happened once and at a very specific moment in
  time, such as Last night I went to the movies.
• The preterit is also used for incipient action,
  meaning action that we see begin, such as "the
  sun came out" as opposed to an imperfect weather
  statement such as "It was sunny yesterday".
• When action begins or ends (ex I met Felipe.
  She graduated from college. The class ended at
  915.) we use the preterit.
• Furthermore, when action is interrupted (ex We
  were golfing when it started to rain.") the verb
  that stops the action is in the preterit.

4
El pretérito

• Words that are hints for using
• preterit
• Ayer
• Anteayer
• El mes pasado
• Anoche
• El año pasado
• En ese momento
• El otro día
• Esta tarde
• Hace dos años

Note that these expressions indicate specific
time frames!
5
El pretérito

• The conjugations are as follows
• AR
• -é -amos
• -aste -asteis
• -ó -aron
• ER/IR
• -í -imos
• -iste -isteis
• -ió -ieron

6
El imperfecto

• The Spanish imperfect usually translates into
  English as "used to" or "would" for example
• When we were young we USED TO EAT cereal. (We may
  still eat cereal today.)
• As a child we WOULD EAT cereal. (We might
  still.)
• In the sentence "As a child I lived in Chicago"
  the listener does not have enough information to
  determine when the speaker arrived in Chicago or
  when he/she left. It is possible that he/she
  still lives there.
• The imperfect can also be used as a past
  progressive, such as "They WERE EATING".
• The general rule is that if you do not know when
  the action began or ended, it takes the
  imperfect.
• However, there are some cases in the past that
  almost always take the imperfect.
• Unless you have a clear beginning (incipient
  action), use the imperfect to describe the
  following in the past

7
El imperfecto

• Age
• Tenía 12 años cuando robé el primer carro.
• I was 12 when I stole my first car.
• Weather
• Hacía buen tiempo cuando me arrestaron.
• It was nice weather when they arrested me.
• Emotional states
• Mi amigo estaba nervioso porque era la
  medianoche.
• My friend was nervous because it was the middle
  of the night.

• What people were doing WHEN something else
  happened
• Me duchaba cuando sonó el teléfono.
• I was showering when the phone
• rang.
• Habitual past actions
• Íbamos a la playa cada verano.
• We went used to go to the beach
• every summer.
• Time
• Eran las nueve de la noche.
• It was nine o'clock at night.

8
El imperfecto

• Words that are hints for
• using Imperfect
• Siempre
• Cada (año, día...)                        
• Usualmente
• Generalmente
• Normalmente
• Muchas veces
• En general
• En el pasado
• Todos los días

Note that these expressions indicate repetitive,
vague or non-specific time frames!
9
El imperfecto

• The conjugations are as follows
• AR
• -aba -ábamos
• -abas -abáis
• -aba -aban
• ER/IR
• -ía -íamos
• -ías -íais
• -ía -ían

10
El imperfecto

• BUENAS NOTICIAS
• Solo hay tres verbos irregulares en el imperfecto
  
• SER era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
• IR iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
• VER veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

11
Verbs That Change Meaning
Verbo Pretérito Imperfecto
conocer met knew
querer tried wanted
no querer refused did not want
saber found out knew
poder succeeded in was able
tener received used to have