Preterite and Imperfect tenses

Preterite: regular -ar verbs

-é                           - í

-aste                      -iste

-ó                          - io'                     

-amos                  -imos

-asteis

-aron                     - ieron

hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron

Imperfect: regular -ar verbs

-aba                          -   ía

-abas                        - ías

-aba                          

-ábamos                   - -   íamos

-abais

-aban                       - ian

hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablabais, hablaban

The imperfect is used for actions that "set the stage" for another action.

Yo leía cuando entró mi papá.

I was reading when my papa entered. (note that "entered" is preterite)

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.

Good news! 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

 To review some of the rules for using the imperfect:

• The imperfect is used for actions that were repeated habitually.
• The imperfect is used for actions that "set the stage" for another action.
• The imperfect is used for telling time and stating one's age.

 To review some of the rules for using the preterite:

• The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events.
• The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times.
• The preterite is used for actions that occurred during a specific period of time.
• The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events.
• The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action.

ser	ir	dar	hacer
fui	fui	di	hice
fuiste	fuiste	diste	hiciste
fue	fue	dio	hizo
fuimos	fuimos	dimos	hicimos
fuisteis	fuisteis	disteis	hicisteis
fueron	fueron	dieron	hicieron

Expressions that signal use of preterite

ayer

(yesterday)

la semana pasada

(last week)

anoche

(last night)

el mes pasado

(last month)

el otro día

(the other day)

el año pasado

(last year)

entonces

(then)

hace dos días, años

(two days, years ago)

esta mañana

(this morning)

ayer por la mañana

(yesterday morning)

Expressions that signal use of imperfect

a menudo

(often)

generalmente

(usually)

a veces

(sometimes)

muchas veces

(many times)

cada día

(every day)

siempre

(always)

cada año

(every year)

todo el tiempo

(all the time)

de vez en cuando

(from time to time)

varias veces

(several times)