Preterite vs. Imperfect
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- "I lived in San Antonio for two years"
- Preterite
- To provide background information, such as weather and time, in which events or actions evolved or occurred in the past
- Imperfect
- To narrate past actions that occurred within a delimited time period or that were repeated a number of times
- Preterite
- "We were all waiting patiently to board the plane"
- Imperfect
- To describe actions in progress in the past without emphasis on when they started or ended
- Imperfect
- "We boarded the train very early and traveled many hours until we arrived in California"
- Preterite
- To narrate a sequence of completed past actions (implying that one action or even finishes before the next begins)
- Preterite
- "I stopped looking for work after accepting the job"
- Preterite
- To describe one's age
- Imperfect
- To express repetitive or habitual actions in the past (what one used to do)
- Imperfect
- To emphasize the start or completion of a past action, even, or state (physical or mental)
- Preterite
- "It was ten o'clock in the morning. It was very hot that day. There wasn't anybody in the airport."
- Imperfect
- To summarize opinions, attitudes, and beliefs about past physical and mental states, actions, and events
- Preterite
- To describe things or people (emotions, opinions, attitudes, or beliefs)
- Imperfect
- "I visited my family in Monterrey many times"
- Preterite
- "When I was young, out house was small, but my sister and I thought that it was pretty"
- Imperfect
- "Rosa used to go to El Paso a lot to visit her daughter who was living there"
- Imperfect
- "The trip seemed very long to me"
- Preterite
- "To emigrate was an important decision"
- Preterite
- "In 1998, I was fifteen years old"
- Imperfect
- "I started to look for work a week ago"
- Preterite
- To anticipate what was going to happen with "ir a + infinitive"
- Imperfect
- "I had my first interview yesterday and they offered me a job"
- Preterite
- "Our family was going to emigrate to the United States in 1998"
- Imperfect