1 ¿PRETERITO O IMPERFECTO? A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAST TENSE VERB IN SPANISH

2 REPASO SPANISH HAS TWO PAST TENSES: PRETERITE: FOR COMPLETED ACTIONS IN THE PAST IMPERFECT FOR ONGOING OR REPEATED PAST ACTIONS NATIVES KNOW AUTOMATICALLY WHICH TO CHOOSE, BUT WE NEED CLUES TO PICK THE RIGHT VERB.

3 PRETERITO ACTIONS THAT ARE COMPLETED OR HAVE A DEFINED BEGINNING AND ENDING IN THE PAST ARE PRETERITE. EX: Martín puso su mano por la ventana del coche.

4 PRETERITO : Actions in Series For a series of actions in the past we also use preterite. (HINT: one action must be completed before you can start the next one) El se puso sus zapatos y salió del cuarto.

5 IMPERFECTO Use imperfect verbs for actions in the past that do not have a defined beginning or end. Actions that end in “ING” in English are imperfect in Spanish. Ex: Fritz was wearing a stupid hat.  Fritz llevaba una gorra tonta.

6 IMPERFECTO para Narración Use imperfect verbs to describe the scene, set the stage. Weather, descriptions, emotions, all take imperfect in Spanish. EX: Hacía sol. EX: Los pájaros cantaban. EX: Estaba feliz.

7 IMPERFECTO para LA HORA When you are talking about CLOCK TIME in general ALWAYS use IMPERFECT. Eran las dos de la mañana. Era mediodía. Era la una.

8 So Far… PRETERITO Completed Actions One time Actions Actions in a series IMPERFECTO Ongoing Actions -ING Actions Describe the scene actions Clock time actions.

9 TIME TO CHECK WHAT YOU KNOW SO FAR… Por cada frase, decide si es imperfecto o pretérito y indica tu respuesta. Piensa en las condiciones y usa tus apuntes para decidir. ¿LISTOS?

10 PRACTICA: A= IMP, B = PRET 1. José _________ su tarea en su mochila. (PONER) 2. Ellos _________ a la piscina mucho en verano. (IR) 3. _________ las 4:30 de la tarde. (SER) 4. Nosotros _______ en la biblioteca de vez en cuando. (LEER) 5. Ayer, yo ________ un libro en la biblioteca. (LEER) 6. Por lo general, _________ mucho frío en Alaska. (HACER) puso iban Eran leíamos leí hacía

11 Interruptions When you have two actions in a sentence and one interrupts the other, use… PRETERITE for the interruptor or shorter action. IMPERFECT for the interrupted or longer action. I was watching TV when Nando called. Nando called when I was watching TV.

12 Practica: A = Imp, B = Preterite Tú ____ una fiesta enorme cuando ____ la policia a tu casa. 7. A= teníasB= tuviste 8. A= llegabaB= llegó Vicente ____ a mi casa cuando yo ____ a su novia. 9. A= veníaB = vino 10. A= besabaB = besó tenías llegó vino besaba

13 MÁS PRÁCTICA Remember whatever gets interrupted is IMPERFECTO, the interruptor is PRETÉRITO. Alejandro ______ a X-BOX cuando su madre le ______. 11. A= jugabaB= jugó 12. A= llamabaB= llamó El semáforo se ______ rojo cuando yo ______ mi coche. 13. A= poníaB = puso 14. A= manejabaB= manejó jugaba llamó puso manejaba

14 PRETERITE BUZZ WORDS Una vez  Once De repente  Suddenly Anoche  Last night Ayer  Yesterday El/la ___ pasado  last ____ Always use a preterite verb with these words because the action is completed.

15 Imperfect Buzz Words Muchas veces  many times A menudo  often Frecuentemente  frequently Todos los + ____  every/all Cada  each, every Generalmente  usually Siempre  always A veces  at times Nunca  never These words will always prompt you for an imperfect verb, because they imply repetition.

16 PRACTICA: Lee la frase y decide ¿preterito o imperfecto? 15. Mi mamá siempre _________ la cena para mi familia. A= preparabaB= preparó 16. A menudo tú ______ helado en verano con tus amigos. A= comíasB= comió 17. De repente el coche _______con un árbol. A= chocabaB = chocó preparaba comías chocó

17 Imperfecto para describir… Use imperfect to describe: Conditions, emotions, weather, physical descriptions, personality traits, what was going on in the background. Hacía sol. El cielo era azul. El castillo enorme estaba en la montaña.

18 IMPERFECTO Imperfect verbs are responsible for moving the story outward, they set the scene, give descriptions and offer the stage for events.Imperfect verbs are responsible for moving the story outward, they set the scene, give descriptions and offer the stage for events.

19 PRETERITO Preterite verbs are responsible for moving the story forward. They are used to tell actions that happened.Preterite verbs are responsible for moving the story forward. They are used to tell actions that happened. They are also used after quotes in dialogue.They are also used after quotes in dialogue.

20 PRETERITO O IMPERFECTO? “¡Ayúdame por favor!” ______ la princesa. A = gritaba B = gritó El principe ______ la torre. (climbed) A= subía B= subió Ellos ______ felices para siempre. A= vivían B= vivieron gritó subió vivían

21 SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS Two actions that are going on at exactly the same time in the past use IMPERFECT verbs. The “buzz” word is MIENTRAS=WHILE EX: Pedro lloraba mientras el peluquero cortaba su pelo.

22 PRUEBA! A= IMPB= PRET ¡PRUEBA! A= IMPB= PRET 21. After quotes 22. Siempre 23. Muchas veces 24. Una vez 25. Generalmente 26. De repente 27.Completed Action 28. Repeated Action 29. Frecuentemente 30. Sets the scene. 31. Series of actions. 32. Interruptor 33.Describes weather 34. Clock Time 35. Describe Emotions 36. Interrupted 37. Dialogue 38. Born and dying 39. Mientras

23 Thoroughly confused yet?? No worries… a lot of preterite vs imperfect is just practicing. The more you do, the better you get at it. There is one more scenario we need to explore however…

24 Think of a traffic light… Preterite is like red. You stop and it’s a completed action. Imperfect is like green, its ongoing and you keep driving!

25 The YELLOW light… Warns you that it’s going to change. Sometimes you slow down, sometimes you speed up. There are verbs in Spanish that work like the light. If you use them in preterite they mean one thing, if you use imperfect they mean another. Sometimes you will use one, sometimes the other. Just like the intersection.

26 YELLOW LIGHT VERBS PRETERITO VERBOIMPERFECTO To find outSABERto know To meetCONOCERto know To refuseNO QUERERto not want To try and fail NO PODERto be unable To succeedPODERto be able to

27 Pretérito o imperfecto 40) Carlos no _____salir anoche porque tenía que estudiar. (poder) 41) Anita ______el secreto en clase. (saber) 42) Yo _________a todas las personas en la fiesta. (conocer) 43) Ella invitó a Carlos pero no ________ir. (querer) 44) El niño no ________comer sus verduras. (querer) 45) ¡Nosotros _______ ganar el partido, somos los campeones! (poder) podía supo conocí quería quiso pudimos