Chapter 3: Past Tenses - Imperfect and Preterit

Question 1

What are the imperfect conjugations for an -ar verb?

Answer 1

-aba
-abas
aba

ábamos
abais
aban

Question 2

What are the imperfect conjugations for an -er verb?

Answer 2

• ía
• ías
• ía
• íamos
• íais
• ían

Question 3

What are the imperfect conjugations for an -ir verb?

Answer 3

• ía
• ías
• ía
• íamos
• íais
• ían

Question 4

What are the preterit conjugations for an -ar verb?

Answer 4

• é
• aste
• ó
• amos
• asteis
• aron

Question 5

What are the preterit conjugations for an -er verb?

Answer 5

• í
• íste
• ío
• imos
• isteis
• ieron

Question 6

What are the preterit conjugations for an -ir verb?

Answer 6

• í
• íste
• ío
• imos
• isteis
• ieron

Question 7

What is the primary difference between the imperfect and preterit tenses?

Answer 7

The imperfect generally expresses non-completed or definitive occurrences in the past. “Somebody was doing/used to do/would do.”

The preterit is used to indicate a completed or definite past action or the beginning of an action in the past. “Somebody did.”

Question 8

“hablar” conjugated into the imperfect:

Answer 8

hablar:
hablaba
hablabas
hablaba

hablábamos
hablabais
hablaban

Question 9

“hablar” conjugated into the preterit:

Answer 9

hablar:
hablé
hablaste
habló

hablamos
hablasteis
hablaron

Question 10

“encontrar” conjugated into the imperfect:

Answer 10

encontrar:
encontraba
encontrabas
encontraba

encontrábamos
encontrabais
encontraban

Question 11

“encontrar” conjugated into the preterit:

Answer 11

encontrar:
encontré
encontraste
encontró

encontramos
encontrasteis
encontraron

Question 12

“escribir” conjugated into the preterit:

Answer 12

escribí
escribiste
escribió

escribimos
escribisteis
escribieron

Question 13

“volver” conjugated into the preterit:

Answer 13

volver:
volví
volviste
volvió

volvimos
volvisteis
volvieron

Question 14

Conjugate “ir” into the imperfect:

Answer 14

ir:
iba
ibas
iba

íbamos
ibais
iban

Question 15

“escribir” conjugated into the preterit:

Answer 15

escribir:
escribí
escribiste
escribió

escribimos
escribisteis
escribieron

Question 16

Conjugate “ver” into the imperfect:

Answer 16

veía
veías
veía

veíamos
veíais
veían

Question 17

Conjugate “ver” into the imperfect:

Answer 17

veía
veías
veía

veíamos
veíais
veían

Question 18

What is the first person singular conjugation of “llegar”?

Answer 18

llegué

Question 19

What is the first person singular conjugation of “buscar”?

Answer 19

busqué

Question 20

What is the first person singular conjugation of “empezar”?

Answer 20

empecé

Question 21

What is the preterit, first person singular conjugation of “llegar”?

Answer 21

llegué

Question 22

What is the preterit, first person singular conjugation of “buscar”?

Answer 22

busqué

Question 23

What is the preterit, first person singular conjugation of “empezar”?

Answer 23

empecé

Question 24

What is the preterit conjugation of “caer”?

Answer 24

caer:
caí
caíste
cayó

caímos
caísteis
cayeron

Question 25

What is the preterit conjugation of “leer”?

Answer 25

leer:
leí
leíste
leyó

leímos
leísteis
leyeron

Question 26

What is the preterit conjugation of “oír”?

Answer 26

oír:
oí
oíste
oyó

oímos
oísteis
oyeron

Question 27

Irregular preterit stem, “andar”:

Answer 27

anduv-

Question 28

Irregular preterit stem, “estar”:

Answer 28

estuv-

Question 29

Irregular preterit stem, “hacer”:

Answer 29

hic-/hiz-

Question 30

Irregular preterit stem, “poder”:

Answer 30

pud-

Question 31

Irregular preterit stem, “poner”:

Answer 31

pus-

Question 32

Irregular preterit stem, “querer”:

Answer 32

quis-

Question 33

Irregular preterit stem, “saber”:

Answer 33

sup-

Question 34

Irregular preterit stem, “tener”:

Answer 34

tuv-

Question 35

Irregular preterit stem, “venir”:

Answer 35

vin-

Question 36

Conjugar “hacer” into the preterit:

Answer 36

hacer:
hice
hiciste
hizo

hicimos
hicisteis
hicieron

Question 37

Conjugate “decir” into the preterit:

Answer 37

decir:
dije
dijiste
dijo

dijimos
dijisteis
dijeron

Question 38

What endings to -uir verbs take in the preterit?

Answer 38

• uir:
• í
• iste
• yó
• imos
• isteis
• yeron

Question 39

Conjugate “dormir” into the preterit:

Answer 39

-

Question 40

What are the other, more specific uses of the imperfect tense?

Answer 40

1. Time of day “Eran las dos y media de la tarde.”
2. Age “Cuando tenía trece años, iba al cine solo.”
3. Mental/emotional actions “No queríamos ir al centro.”
4. Descriptions of the past. “Llovía y hacía frío.”

Question 41

What does “conocer” mean in the preterit?

Answer 41

I met

Question 42

What does “poder” mean in the preterit?

Answer 42

I managed to

Question 43

What does “no poder” mean in the preterit?

Answer 43

I failed/was not able to

Question 44

What does “querer” mean in the preterit?

Answer 44

I tried

Question 45

What does “no querer” mean in the preterit?

Answer 45

I refused

Question 46

What does “saber” mean in the preterit?

Answer 46

I found out/learned

Question 47

What does “tener que” mean in the preterit?

Answer 47

I had to

Question 48

What is the difference between “pedir” and “preguntar”?

Answer 48

Pedir means to ask for something; preguntar means to ask for information, like a question/pregunta.

Question 49

What does “aprovechar” mean?

Answer 49

To take advantage of

Question 50

What does “buscar” mean?

Answer 50

To look for

Question 51

What does “esperar” mean?

Answer 51

To wait for

Question 52

What does “mirar” mean?

Answer 52

To look at

Question 53

What does “conseguir” mean?

Answer 53

To succeed in

Question 54

What does “pagar” mean?

Answer 54

To pay for

Question 55

What does “escuchar” mean?

Answer 55

To listen to