Pretéreto vs Imperfecto

Pretéreto vs Imperfecto - two aspects of time. reprinted and altered froma previous post of mine in Friendly Talk Zone...

Pretéreto vs Imperfecto:

Pretérito is for completed processes in the past - a process that has a start, some duration and an end - or a specific event that took place. Quite often the Preterito will be used to describe actions that happened a certain number of times (I ate three hotdogs - or - I called you 3 times - ALWAYS take the preterito). The pretérito has no connection with the present. Most of the time this beginning, duration, and end are implied and not specifically stated.

Imperfecto describes an incomplete process - in other words we don't know when it started when it ended (if it indeed did end), or how many times it happened. You know there was "Some" duration in the past but the beginning and the ending are IRRELEVANT. The Imperfecto tells us when in general, not when specifically. Imperfecto is used to describe past events or habitual actions. Also the IMP is used to describe settings and circumstances in a story ("It was a hot day and the ocean was calm...")

Rule of thumb: if you want to say something and you are not sure wether to use the IMP or PRET think about the following question being asked after you make your statement: "When?" or "for how long?" - If either of these two can be asked and a very specific time can be referenced as an answer (Yesterday, last night, on my 5th birthday party) use the PRET.

For instance: These days I don't get along with my Mom but " we used to talk every day" "hablabamos todos los días" - IMP - because "When?" is not a viable response. The speaker is describing a habitual action of talking every day to his mom in the past.

"I asked the bank for a loan" and got denied. "Pedí un préstamo al banco" - PRET - because "When?" is a viable response to your statement. The asking for a loan is a completed action in the past, although not directly stated it is implied in the english translation.

However if you want to say "I always asked the bank for a loan" - we have a habitual action in the past so with this english example, "When?" is not viable and the Spanish would be in the IMP, "Siempre pedía un préstamo al banco".

Ayer comí muchas arepas - Yesterday I ate a lot of arepas - the setting was yesterday - that's enough to warrant the PRET.

Note: The IMP also has no connection with the present. Usually one does not know if the process is still true or still happening as we speak. Eg: El año pasado, ella tenía un carro americano. - Last year she had an american car. We don't know wether she still has an american car. The IMP does not indicate if the act of having an american car ever ended - the time frame, beginning and end of having an american car is IRRELEVANT. The implerfect is used to set up background information - not a specific event.

Cuando estaba en Perú comí cerviche en un restuarant famoso. Here the imperfecto is setting the scene (details of a story) and the preterito is describing an event. This type of sentence where the imperfect is setting up a time frame warrants the preterito if we are talking about a specific event that took place in the past. If the speaker used to eat cerviche all the time in peru (habitual action) he would say "cuando estaba en Perú comía cerviche (todos los días, casi siempre, etc..)

Here's the easy part - the speaker - YOU - decides which one to use. All you have to worry about is the action you are describing - did it happen frequently in the past, are you describing a scenario in the past - OR - are you speaking about a specific event in the past that has a beginning and an end?

I hope this helps. Also the IMP is easy as pie to conjugate - only three irregulars and one of them (Ver) is hardly irregular.

By rocinante on Sep 23, 2007, 20:41 in Learn Spanish.