Preterite & Imperfect Flashcards
When do you use the preterite?
- Express past actions that happened and ended quickly
- An action that is viewed as a complete unit by the speaker (regardless of time involved)
- The beginning or ending of an action
When do you use the imperfect?
Think about the imperfect as if it’s taking us back to the past to view the action as its occurring.
- Action is not viewed as a whole (no beginning and end)
- English equivalent of (was, were + -ing) to tell what was happening at a certain time
- Habitual past actions
- To describe/characterize in the past
- Emotional, mental, or physical states in the past (verbs that describe a state of mind)
How do you say “there was” or “there were” in Spanish?
había
What common verbs have different English meanings in the imperfect vs preterite?
conocer, costar, poder, saber, querer, tener
What does conocer mean in the imperfect vs preterite?
conocía
- I knew, was acquainted with
conocí
- I met, made the acquaitance of
What does costar mean in the imperfect vs preterite?
costaba
-it cost (before purchasing)
costó
- it cost (after purchasing)
What does poder mean in the imperfect vs preterite?
Podía
- I could, was able to (was in a position to)
pude
- I was able to (and did)
What does “no poder” mean in the imperfect vs preterite?
No podía
- I was not able to, could not
no pude
- I tried (but couldn’t)
What does querer mean in the imperfect versus preterite?
quería
- I wanted to, desired to
quise
- I tried to
What does “no querer” mean in the imperfect versus preterite?
No quería
- I didn’t want to
no quise
- I refused, would not
What does saber mean in the imperfect versus preterite?
Sabía
- I knew, knew how to, had knowledge that
Supe
- I learned, found out
What does tener mean in the imperfect versus the preterite?
tenía
- I had (in my posession)
Tuve
- I had, recieved
What does “tener que” mean in the imperfect versus preterite?
tenía que
- I had to (but did not necessarily do it)
tuve que
- I had to (and did do it)
What are the common preterite endings?
-ar: é, aste, ó, amos, aron
-er/ir: í, iste, ió, imos, ieron
What are the irregular u-stem preterite verbs?
andar: anduv-
estar: estuv-
poder: pud-
poner: pus-
saber: sup-
tener: tuv-
