Preterite vs. Imperfect The preterite tense is used to refer to a single event that happened at a specific point in time or had a specific duration in the past
Preterite and Imperfect tenses are both related to the past, but they function differently.
1. UNIT 5 Uni t Content Preterite Tense Regular and Irregular Verbs Imperfect Tense Regular and Spanish Level One Irregular Verbs
2. Preterite vs Imperfect: In Spanish, the Preterite and the Imperfect are used to narrate in the past. The preterite is used to describe actions completed at a point in the past. The imperfect is used to describe habitual or continuous actions in the past. Juan habló dos horas. Juan spoke two hours. (action completed) Las chicas hablaban en inglés. The girls used to speak in English. (no definite beginning or end)
3. Forming the Preterite Tense To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following: é amos aste asteis ó aron To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following: í imos iste isteis ió ieron
5. Preterite Tense Let’s look at some words and phrases that indicate specific time frames, and therefore signal the use of the PRETERITE. 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)
6. Preterite Tense Let’s look at some words and phrases that indicate specific time frames, and therefore signal the use of the PRETERITE. 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)
7. When to use the Preterite Tense 1. The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events. Ella caminó por el parque. She walked through the park. Ellos llegaron a las ocho. They arrived at eight o’clock. 2. The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action. Empezó a nevar a las ocho de la mañana. It began to snow at eight in the morning.
8. When to use the Preterite Tense 3. The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times, or occurred during a specific period of time. Ayer escribí tres cartas. Yesterday I wrote three letters. Vivimos allí por cuatro años. We lived there for four years. 4. The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events. Ella se levantó, se vistió, y salió de la casa. She got up, dressed, and left the house.
9. Preterite Tense 4 IRREGULAR VERBS you must memorize them: Pronoun ser ir dar hacer yo fui fui di hice tu fuiste fuiste diste hiciste el, ella, Ud. fue fue dio hizo nosotros fuimos fuimos dimos hicimos vosotros fuisteis fuisteis disteis hicisteis ellos, ellas, Uds. fueron fueron dieron hicieron Ser and ir have identical conjugations in the preterite!
10. Preterite Tense The e ie or o ue stem-changing verbs in the present tense do not make those changes in the preterite. The -ir stem-changing verbs do change in the preterite from e i and o u third person singular and plural) Pronoun cerrar entender preferir dormir yo cerré entendí preferí dormí tu cerraste entendiste preferiste dormiste el, ella, Ud. cerró entendió prefirió durmió nosotros cerramos entendimos preferimos dormimos vosotros cerrasteis entendisteis preferisteis dormisteis ellos, ellas, Uds. cerraron entendieron prefirieron durmieron Note: This is not a typo; ser and ir do have identical conjugations in the preterite!
11. Practica 1 Change these sentences from the present to the preterite tense: 1. Carlos toma café. ___Carlos tomó café______ 2. Nosotros vendemos el carro. _______________________ 3. ¿Qué estudias? _______________________ 4. No viven aquí. _______________________ 5. Entiendo el ejercicio. _______________________ 6. Conversan en Español. _______________________ 7. Ella pide comida. _______________________ 8. No encuentro las llaves. _______________________ 9. ¿Cuándo viajas? _______________________ 10. El bebe duerme mucho. _______________________
12. Practica 2 Translate the following sentences in Spanish: 1. He called me twice. __Me llamó dos veces.____ 2. I bought the dress yesterday. ______________________ 3. She lived there for two years. ______________________ 4. Our neighbor died last night. ______________________ 5. They asked for more money. ______________________ 6. Did you guys close the door? ______________________ 7. I didn’t drive yesterday. ______________________ 8. He lost his cell phone. ______________________ 9. We didn’t visit Spain. ______________________ 10. What did they serve. ______________________
13. Preterite Tense In order to preserve the sound of the infinitive, a number of verbs change orthographically (spelling) in the preterite tense. The following changes occur in the “yo” form only: Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu Verbs that end in -car change c to qu Verbs that end in -zar change z to c Here are three examples: yo jugué (jugar) yo busqué (buscar) yo almorcé (almorzar)
14. Preterite Tense Some common orthographic changing verbs for the preterite tense in these categories are: -gar -car -zar cegar aparcar almorzar colgar buscar autorizar jugar clarificar cazar llegar clasificar comenzar pagar destacar cruzar plegar empacar empezar regar justificar forzar rogar practicar organizar tragar sacar simbolizar vagar tocar tropezarse
15. Preterite Tense The following verbs are irregular in the preterite and must be memorized: decir traer ver dije traje vi dijiste trajiste viste dijo trajo vio dijimos trajimos vimos dijisteis trajisteis visteis dijeron trajeron vieron Verbs like Traer: atraer, detraer, distraer, extraer. Maltraer, retraer, sustraer
16. Preterite Tense Additional Characteristics about verbs with Spelling Changes: 1. Verbs like reír (to laugh), freír (to fry), and sonreír (to smile) have a written accent mark on most of the forms in the preterite: reír: reí, reíste, rió, reímos, reísteis, rieron 2. - ir verbs with stems ending in ñ drop the "i" in the third person in the preterite ( eg. gruñir [to grunt] – gruñó, gruñeron). 3. Verbs ending in –guar, like averiguar (to investigate) change spelling in the first person singular in the preterite: averiguar: averigüé, averiguaste, averigue, averiguamos, averiguasteis, averiguaron
17. Practica 3 Write the first person singular form for each of these verbs: 1. secar ___sequé_______________ 2. alcanzar _______________________ 3. colocar _______________________ 4. pegar _______________________ 5. averiguar _______________________ 6. freír _______________________ 7. ver _______________________ 8. gruñir _______________________ 9. mascar _______________________ 10. cruzar _______________________
18. Practica 3 Write the first person singular form for each of these verbs: 1. secar ___sequé_______________ 2. alcanzar _______________________ 3. colocar _______________________ 4. pegar _______________________ 5. averiguar _______________________ 6. freír _______________________ 7. ver _______________________ 8. gruñir _______________________ 9. mascar _______________________ 10. cruzar _______________________
19. Preterite Tense For verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer, the él/ella/usted forms use the ending “yó” (rather than ió) and the third person plural uses the ending “yeron” (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter “i.” creer creí creíste creyó creímos creísteis creyeron Other verbs like creer include: caer, leer, oír, poseer, proveer, roer Exceptions to this rule include: traer, atraer, distraer
20. Preterite Tense Verbs that end in -uir change in the same way, but the written accent over the letter “i” only occurs in the yo form. huir huí huiste huyó huimos huisteis huyeron Other verbs like huir include: construir, contribuir, destruir, fluir, incluir,
21. Preterite Tense Verbs that end in -ucir are irregular and conjugated as follows: producir produje produjiste produjo produjimos produjisteis produjeron Other verbs in this category include: aducir, conducer, coproducir, deducir, inducer, introducer, reducer, traducir
22. Preterite Tense Irregular verbs with different stem but all share the same endings: Infinitive Stem Change Endings andar anduv- -e estar estuv- -iste tener tuv- -o caber cup- -imos haber hub- -isteis poder pud- -ieron poner pus- saber sup- hacer hic- querer quis- venir vin- Exception: hacer (el/ella/usted hizo)
23. Forming the Imperfect Tense To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following: aba ábamos abas abais aba aban To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following: ía íamos ías íais ía ían
25. Imperfect Tense Let’s look at some words and phrases that indicate repetitive, vague and non-specific time frame and therefore signal the use of the IMPERFECT. 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)
26. Imperfect Tense Let’s look at some words and phrases that indicate repetitive, vague and non-specific time frame and therefore signal the use of the IMPERFECT. en aquella época (at that time) Frecuentemente (frequently) Generalmente (usually) muchas veces (many times) Mucho (a lot) Nunca (never) por un rato (for awhile)
27. Imperfect Tense Let’s look at some words and phrases that indicate repetitive, vague and non-specific time frame and therefore signal the use of the IMPERFECT. 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) Siempre (always) de vez en cuando (from time to time)
28. When to use the Imperfect Tense 1. The imperfect is used for actions that were repeated habitually. Almorzábamos juntos todos los días. We would lunch together every day. Las señoras siempre charlaban por las mañanas. The ladies would always chat in the mornings. 2. The imperfect is used for actions that “set the stage” for another Yo leía cuando entró mi papá. I was reading when my papa entered. (note that “entered” is preterite)
29. When to use the Imperfect Tense 3. The imperfect is used for telling time and stating one’s age. Eran las siete de la noche. It was seven o’clock at night. La niña tenía cinco años. The little girl was five years old. The above examples all fall within our general rule for using the imperfect: The imperfect is used for past actions that are not seen as completed.
30. Imperfect Tense There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect. You must simply memorize them. ser ir ver era iba veía eras ibas veías era iba veía éramos íbamos veíamos erais ibais veíais eran iban veían
31. SUMMARY: Preterite versus Imperfect Preterite Tense 1. The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events. 2. The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times. 3. The preterite is used for actions that occurred during a specific period of time. 4. The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events. 5. The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action. Imperfect Tense 1. The imperfect is used for actions that were repeated habitually. 2. The imperfect is used for actions that “set the stage” for another action. 3. The imperfect is used for telling time and stating one’s age.
32. Practica 4 Choose the correct tense (present, preterite, imperfect). We wash the dishes Nosotros __________ los platos. I washed the dishes Yo __________ los platos. I was washing the dishes Yo __________ los platos. He eats shellfish él __________ mariscos. He ate shellfish él __________ mariscos. The gentlemen ate shellfish Ellos __________ mariscos. They lived in Spain Ellos __________ en España. I lived in Spain for three years Yo __________ en España por tres años. Nowadays, they live in Cuba Actualmente, ellos __________ en Cuba. Juan cleaned the car Juan _________ el auto.
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