SERIR VER

You already know two tenses that refer to the past, the preterite ​ and ​​ the imperfect. ​ How is each tense used? ​​  Use the ​ preterite tense ​ to describe an action or series of actions completed ​​ in the past. ​  Aquel día, Pedro fue ​ a la playa ​​ y jugó ​ al voleibol playero. ​​ =  That day, Pedro went ​ to the beach ​​ and played ​ beach volleyball. ​​ (both completed actions that day)

The imperfect tells about past actions without saying when they begin or end. The action isn’t “perfectly done,” therefore it is imperfect.  Todo el mundo dormía = Everybody was sleeping / slept (continuously in the past).  Había gente por todas partes =  There were people everywhere.

 Nos enamoramos cuando éramos jóvenes.  (we fell in love [you see it happen once]  when  we were young [long period of time being young] )

 Mientras yo estudiaba, sonó el teléfono.  While I was studying, the phone rang. When I was little, I broke my favorite toy. Cuando era__ niña, _rompí___ mi juguete favorito.

**The Word “mientras” will be useful to remember as a trigger for the imperfect tense. While they danced, the servers brought cake. Mientras bailaban, los meseros trajeron pastel.

 Use the ​ imperfect tense ​ for ongoing actions or states of being in the past ​​ without focusing on their beginning or end. Always use the imperfect to say ​ what time it was or what the weather was like in the past. ​  Elena siempre iba ​ a la playa ​​ cuando hacía ​ buen tiempo. ​​ =  Elena always used to go ​ to the beach ​​ when the weather was ​ nice. ​​

 Sometimes you need the ​ imperfect ​ and the ​ preterite ​ in the same sentence. ​​  Use the imperfect ​ to tell what was going on in the background. ​​  Use the preterite ​ for the interrupting action or main event. ​​  Yo nadaba ​ cuando Pedro ​ llegó ​​ a la playa. ​ =I was swimming when Pedro arrived to the beach

 You learned to use the preterite tense to talk about actions completed in the past. The imperfect tense describes events that occurred in the past:  The imperfect is used:  To speak about background events in a story  To talk about something you used to do as a habit  To speak about how old someone was  To say what time it was

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Words like yesterday, last week, last night etc. set up use of preterite! 1. La semana pasada yo ___________________________ a mis padres. (visitar) 2. A veces mi esposo y yo _______________________________ al cine. (ir) 3. Ayer Miguel no ________________________ su tarea. (hacer)

4. Diego y Marta ____________________________ el quince de abril. (casarse) 5. El equipo de béisbol ____________________ en un partido anoche. (competir) 6. Yo __________________________________ a la escuela a las ocho. (llegar)

7. Mónica _________________________ con su amiga todos los días. (almorzar) 8. Yo _______________________________ al parque con mi hijo el sábado. (ir) 9. Teresa y Esteban ________________________ el tenis los lunes. (practicar)

10. ¿______________________ tú un accidente de coche hace tres días? (tener) 11. _____________________ ( hubo / había) una vez una clase de historia que no ______________ bien. ( comportarse ) 12. _____________________ las once de la mañana cuando empezó a nevar.

13. A las nueve, yo ____________(despertarse) 14. Yo___________ (llegar) a las nueve de la mañana. 15. ___________ las cinco de la tarde cuando los niños _____________(venir) a la casa.

 Conocer : MET! Conocí a Juan hace cinco años. I met Juan five years ago. (completed action)  En aquella época conocíamos muy bien la ciudad. At that time we knew the city very well. (no definite beginning or end)  Querer: TRIED! María quiso comprar la casa. Maria tried to buy the house. (completed action)  Juan quería comprar la casa. Juan wanted to buy the house. (no definite beginning or end)  No querer: REFUSED! María no quiso comprar la casa. Maria refused to buy the house. (completed action)  Juan no quería comprar la casa. Juan did not want to buy the house.(no definite beginning or end)

 Saber: FOUND OUT! María lo supo ayer. Maria found out yesterday. (completed action)  Juan sabía que María estudiaba. Juan knew that Maria was studying. (no definite beginning or end)  Poder: SUCCEEDED IN! María pudo levantar la mesa. Maria succeeded in lifting the table. (completed action)  No pudo = tried and failed  Juan podía participar en el concierto. Juan was able to participate in the concert. (no definite beginning or end)  Tener: RECEIVED! María tuvo una carta de su mamá. Maria received a letter from her mom. (completed action)  Juan tenía un coche nuevo. Juan used to have a new car. (no definite beginning or end)

1.When I was little, I didn’t like the stifling heat at the beach. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ __________________________________ 2.My great-grandmother used to cook delicious food for my dad. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _______________________ 3.The bride and groom (couple) sat on the sand and watched the sunset. _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ ___________________

4.Your godparents bought you excellent gifts for your baptism! ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ______ 5.My grandparents had more than 5 great-grandchildren! ____________________________________________________ ____________________ ____________________________________________________ __________________________ 6.When my great-grandmother was little, her family was poor, but they were happy. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _______ 7.Last week all my relatives came to the party to celebrate my birthday. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _______

8.The girl fell in love with a boy while she was on a cruise. ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________ 9.Every summer my family and I gathered berries at the lake house. ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________ 10.The children always used the life vest when they were in the water. ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________

11.The boys were playing beach volleyball when it started to rain! __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ______________________________________ 12.The sisters looked a lot alike! __________________________________________ ______________________________ 13.I returned from the beach, left my sandals by the door, and got into the shower! __________________________________________ __________________________________________ _________________________________________