THE PRETERIT AND IMPERFECT FORM – Spanish Verbs

Spanish verbs

Use the preterit when you want: To indicate an action that took place in the past: Ellos se casaron el mes pasado          They got married the last month  To express an action completed at a definite moment in the past: Yo estuve en su casa por tres horas               I was in their house for three […]

Use the preterit when you want:

• To indicate an action that took place in the past:

Ellos se casaron el mes pasado          They  got married the last month 

• To express an action completed at a definite moment in the past:

Yo estuve en su casa por tres horas               I was in their house for three hours

• To express a series of actions completed in the past:

Tu entraste, miraste y te fuiste            You entered, looked and left

• Other Spanish verbs. To express actions that, because of their nature, are not usually repeated: to get married (casarse), to turn an specific age (cumplir años), to realize (darse cuenta de), to die (morir)…

Su hijo nació en Madrid  His son was born in Madrid 

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Use the Spanish verbs imperfect tense:

• To describe actions that took place on a regular basis, that were repeated or habitual:

Yo veía a mis primos todas las semanas                  I used to see my cousins every week.

• To describe ongoing conditions or actions in the past:

El teatro tenía tres salidas                     The theater had three exits

• To describe people or states of indefinite duration in the past with no mention to the beginning or ending:

Su marido era alto                        Her husband was tall

• To express age in the past:

Mis abuelos tenían setenta años                    My granparents were sixty years old

• To express time in the past:

Eran las diez                       It was ten o´clock

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MORE USES OF THE SPANISH VERBS PRETERIT AND THE IMPERFECT

• The preterit is used to “interrupt” an ongoing action:

Hacía un día hermoso y de repente empezó a llover                     It was a beautiful day and suddenly it started to rain 

• The imperfect is used to indicate simultaneous actions:

Ana cocinaba mientras yo ponía la mesa     Ana cooked while I set the table

With these constructions:

Hacía + expression of time + que + imperfect

Imperfect + desde hacía + expression of time

Hacía tres meses que trabajaba en la oficina de turismo                      

I had been working in the tourist office for three months

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