El pretérito vs. el imperfecto Unidad 2 El pretérito vs. el imperfecto

The imperfecto is used to: tell what used to happen describe things and situations in the past ongoing actions

-ar imperfecto endings aba abas ábamos aban

-er, -ir imperfecto endings ía ías íamos ían

There are only 3 irregulars in the imperfecto: ir, ser, ver

ir iba ibas íbamos iban

ser era eras éramos eran

ver veía veías veíamos veían

Common expressions with the imperfecto: todos los días siempre muchas veces entonces (then) de niño, cuando era niño

The imperfecto is used to tell time in the past ex.: Eran las cinco de la tarde.

ex.: Lola me dijo que venía. Lola told me that she was coming. The imperfect is used to report what someone else said--it follows the preterit ex.: Lola me dijo que venía. Lola told me that she was coming.

The imperfect is used to talk about someone’s childhood ex.: De niña era muy traviesa. As a child she was very mischevious.

The pretérito is used to describe: completed actions in the past actions seen as done

-ar pretérito endings: aste ó amos aron

-er, -ir pretérito endings: í iste ió imos ieron

volví volvimos volviste volvió volvieron -ar &-er stem-changing verbs do NOT have a stem change in the pretérito: volví volviste volvió volvimos volvieron

-ei, oue –ir verbs become sandal verbs in the préterito pedí pediste pidió pedimos pidieron

There are many irregular verbs in the pretérito

hacer hice hiciste hizo hicimos hicieron

poner puse pusiste puso pusimos pusieron

saber supe supiste supo supimos supieron

andar, tener, estar--”v” verbs anduve anduviste anduvo anduvimos anduvieron

poder pude pudiste pudo pudimos pudieron

querer quise quisiste quiso quisimos quisieron

venir vine viniste vino vinimos vinieron

dar di diste dio dimos dieron

ver vi viste vio vimos vieron

ser & ir--have the same forms fui fuiste fue fuimos fueron

SUMMARY Pretérito vs Imperfecto Narration: moves the story forward. An action done a specific number of times. An action or event seen as done or completed (ayer, la semana pasada…) Completed Action/Event Did Last Past Ago Yesterday Once Age in the past, physical description or possession. Setting the stage for the main action. A description of people or things. A mental or emotional state in the past. A repeated or costumary action (cada semana, cada vez, siempre, cuando, mientras, todos los días) Ongoing Action/Event Used to Was –ing Were –ing Every Usually Always While

SUPER SHORT SUMMARY pretérito=completed imperfecto=ongoing