UNIT 8 PRETERITO e IMPERFECTO
Página de referencia
Nombre_____________________________
Información
PRETERITO
Pronombres
yo
tú
usted, él, ella
nosotros, -as
ustedes, ellos
HABLAR
hablé
hablaste
habló
hablamos
hablaron
COMER
comí
comiste
comió
comimos
comieron
VIVIR
viví
viviste
vivió
vivimos
vivieron
Yo hablé. I spoke.
Yo comí. I ate.
Yo viví. I lived.
When to use the Preterit Tense
The preterit tense is basically used to express actions in the past that have a clear starting or ending point.
Sudden actions, the start of an action or event and the ending of an action or event are common situations that
clearly necessitate the use of the preterit tense.
1. To tell about the beginning or ending of a past action.
Beginning: Comenzó a llover a las nueve de la mañana. It began to rain at 9 in the morning.
Ending: Yo terminé el trabajo el veinte de octubre. I finished the work on the 20th of October.
2. To express an action that is seen as completed.
Terminé el ensayo el sábado. I completed the report on Saturday.
El concierto duró tres horas. The concert lasted three hours.
Los Lakers ganaron el partido ayer. The Lakers won the game yesterday.
3. To express a series of completed actions.
En la obra de teatro los actores cantaron, bailaron y gritaron.
In the play, the actors sang, danced and shouted.
Ayer el equipo de fútbol jugó el partido, cenó en el restaurante chino y celebró la victoria.
Yesterday the football team played the game, had dinner at the Chinese restaurant and celebrated the
victory.
4. To express an instantaneous action.
De repente se echo a cantar. All of the sudden she started singing.
Apareció una foto de Selena en la pantalla de mi computadora. A photo of Selena appeared on the
screen of my computer.
IMPERFECTO
Pronombres
yo
tú
usted, él, ella
nosotros, -as
ustedes, ellos
HABLAR
hablaba
hablabas
hablaba
hablábamos
hablaban
COMER
comía
comías
comía
comíamos
comían
VIVIR
vivía
vivías
vivía
vivíamos
vivían
Yo hablaba. I was talking or I used to talk.
Yo comía. I was eating or I used to eat.
Yo vivía. I was living or I used to live.
When to use the Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is used to express past actions that were seen as ongoing without a definite starting and
ending point.
1. Telling what a person, place or thing/event was like in the past.
Mi tío era un hombre muy inteligente. My uncle was a very smart man.
La computadora de Juan siempre nos daba problemas. Juan’s computer alwasys gave us problems.
2. Taling about mental states in the past.
Mis amigos estaban nerviosos por la Guerra en Iraq. My friends were nervous because of the war in Iraq.
3. Habitual actions
Yo caminaba a la tienda en vez de tomar el tren. I used to walk to the store instead of taking the train.
Íbamos a la playa cada domingo. We used to go to the beach on Sundays.
4. Referring to the time in the past.
Eran las tres de la mañana. It was three in the morning.
Era la una cuando me llamó mi hermano. I was one o’clock when my brother called.
5. Giving background details.
El hombre era alto y tenía veintitrés años de edad. The man was tall and he was twenty-three years old.
Llovía mucho durante el concierto en el parque. It was raining a lot during the concert in the park.
6. Telling about an action that was occurring when another action interrupted it.
Ella corría en el parquet cuando le llamó un amigo. She was running in the part when a friend called her.
Yo leía cuando llegó mi prima con las noticias malas. I was Reading when my cousin arrived with the bad
news.
In conclusion, the preterit can be generally described as the verb tense you use to describe situations that
occurred in the past that have a clear starting or ending point. The imperfect tense is used to describe situations
in the past that are viewed as ongoing with no clear starting or ending point.