Using the preterit verb tense in spanish the preterit tense in spanish enables you to put the past behind you. One way this pair of tenses is often used is to talk about an ongoing action or event that was interrupted in the past.

Spanish Past Tense Preterite Vs Imperfect Preterite Spanish

Here are some examples of the preterit perfect tense.

Preterite vs imperfect for dummies. We got home very late last night. This verb tense describes a completed past action something that happened yesterday last night last week last year or at some other definite point in time in the past. The preterite is used to describe completed actions in the past.

Llegamos a casa muy tarde anoche. For example when talking about your friend nico and his birthday your verb choice changes the meaning. This is the imperfect tense.

Una vez que hubimos visto toda la película salimos del cine. The imperfect is used for habitual actions. Once we had seen all of the movie we left the theater.

Past tense spanish lesson webinar preterite imperfect present perfect and pluperfect duration. When you use past tense verbs in spanish you need to pick between the preterit and the imperfect tenses. The preterit perfect is used primarily in formal or literary spanish.

Escribí una carta a mi abuela. Mis niños jugaron en el parque. Tan pronto como ellos hubieron terminado el trabajo recibieron el dinero.

So dum de dum is imperfect and schtum. Nico celebré su cumpleaños en méxico. As soon as.

I used to visit my grandmother every saturday when i was little. Choosing the right verb tense is key for making your meaning clear. The phone rang is more like a sudden schtum like an arrow landing.

I wrote a letter to my grandmother. In such case the interrupted action is given in the imperfect tense while the interrupting action is given in the preterite. The basic rule of thumb when it comes to figuring out which tense to use is that the preterite talks about things you did and the imperfect talks about things you were doing at some point in time or that you used to do.

In this video i will share with you a very simple rule i have used with my spanish students to help them choose easily either the preterite or the imperfect according to the situation. Spanishland school 71 678 views. When imperfect and preterit are in the same sentence use the preterite for the interrupting action or main event.

It s a single activity that has a start and an end this is the preterite tense. My children played in the park.