Past tenses: preterite and imperfect
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Para educadores: diapositivas de la lección, apuntes de repaso listos para usar sobre Past tenses: preterite and imperfect (Spanish, Grammar) — úsalos en tu lección, o presenta el tema como una actividad interactiva de clase que tus aprendices juegan como un juego en vivo.
Apuntes de la lección
Regular preterite forms
- For -ar verbs, use -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. For -er/-ir verbs, use -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Keep accents: hablé and habló identify different people.
- The preterite can present one event, a series or a long bounded period as a completed whole. It is not limited to brief actions, and repeated events can also use it: jugué tres partidos.
Regular preterite forms
Irregular preterites
- Ser and ir share fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Identify meaning from the sentence: fui al parque involves going; fui presidente concerns being in a completed period.
- Other useful forms are hice/hizo, tuve, estuve, dije/dijeron and vi. Vi and vio have no written accent; dijeron has -eron after dij-, so avoid inventing dijieron.
Selected irregular preterites
Preterite spelling and leer
- In the yo preterite, buscar gives busqué, llegar gives llegué and empezar gives empecé. The change occurs before the ending -é; do not transfer that spelling mechanically to buscó, llegó or empezó.
- Leer has leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron. Distinguish these forms from the ordinary -car/-gar/-zar spelling examples rather than applying one rule to every verb.
Keep the sound in the yo preterite
Regular and irregular imperfect
- For -ar verbs use -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For -er/-ir use -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Preserve accents such as hablábamos and comíamos.
- Use it for past habits and background in an appropriate account: jugaba cada sábado; hacía sol. This viewpoint does not claim the event never finished or that every description and repeated action must use imperfect.
- Learn ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran; ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban; ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían.
- A yo form can match an él/ella/usted form, so use the subject or context. Accents remain essential in éramos, íbamos and the forms of veía.
Regular imperfect forms
Viewpoint in a past narrative
- Llovía cuando llegué views rain as ongoing and the arrival as a completed event. De pequeño jugaba al fútbol presents a habit, while jugué tres partidos presents a completed series.
- A different tense can be grammatical with a different viewpoint: llovió todo el día presents a completed period. Read the whole account instead of assuming weather means imperfect or repetition means imperfect.
Viewpoint changes the account
Using both tenses in an account
- El fin de semana pasado fui al parque. Hacía sol cuando llegué. Jugué al fútbol con mis amigos. This is an invented account; other appropriate past situations are valid.
- Identify the completed events fui, llegué and jugué, and background hacía sol. Check subject endings, irregular forms and accents rather than adding a second tense merely to fill a checklist.
Identify the forms in a fictional account
Haber and the participle
- Use he, has, ha, hemos, habéis or han with a participle: he comido, ha visto. Regular participles end in -ado or -ido; useful irregulars include hecho, visto and escrito.
- With haber, the participle does not agree with the object: he visto las películas. Use of he comido compared with comí varies by region and context; do not impose one English have rule on all Spanish speakers.
Haber plus participle
Time expressions in context
- Ayer is yesterday; anoche last night; la semana pasada last week; de pequeño when little; a menudo often; normalmente normally. They locate or characterise the account.
- Anoche llegué tarde and anoche llovía are both possible: one reports an event, the other gives ongoing background. The time phrase does not select the tense without the rest of the sentence.
Read the whole sentence
Diapositivas
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Preguntas de práctica
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1.What is the preterite of "hablar" (ella)?
Easy- Ahabló
- Bhablé
- Chablaba
- Dhablará
2.What is the preterite of "comer" (nosotros)?
Easy- Acomemos
- Bcomíamos
- Ccomeremos
- Dcomimos
3.What is the preterite of "vivir" (ellos)?
Easy- Aviven
- Bvivirán
- Cvivieron
- Dvivían
4.What is the preterite of "ir" (yo)?
Easy- Airé
- Bfui
- Ciba
- Dvoy
5.What is the preterite of "ser" (tú)?
Easy- Afuiste
- Beras
- Ceres
- Dserás
6.What is the preterite of "hacer" (él)?
Easy- Ahacía
- Bhace
- Chará
- Dhizo
7.What is the preterite of "tener" (yo)?
Easy- Atengo
- Btendré
- Ctuve
- Dtenía
8.What is the preterite of "estar" (yo)?
Easy- Aestaré
- Bestuve
- Cestaba
- Destoy
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