Is Estaba Preterite Or Imperfect

Preterite vs Imperfect: A Beginner's Guide to the Past Tense in Castilian

Ready for a blast from the past?

As y'all may know, Castilian has two by tenses: preterite and imperfect. It'due south often tricky to know which to use when, since they both refer to deportment in the past. Fortunately, several general guidelines exist to help you realize when to use preterite vs imperfect.

It's besides helpful to know which Castilian phrases trigger the employ of either the preterite or the imperfect, so we'll accept a look at those later.

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Preterite vs Imperfect Conjugation Rules

Preterite and Imperfect tenses are both related to the by, simply they function differently.

The preterite tells you precisely when something happened in the past, while the imperfect tells you in full general terms when an action took place with no definite catastrophe.

Here's a quick look at how to cohabit regular verbs in the preterite and imperfect forms.

(Be sure to check out our post on All Y'all E'er Needed to Know About Castilian Simple By Tense Verbs for a thorough rundown of both regular and irregular preterite verb conjugations.)

Preterite: Regular -ar Verbs

-é

-aste

-ó

-amos

-aron

For case: hablar (to talk) becomes yo hablé, tú hablaste, él/ella/Ud. habló, nosotros hablamos, and ellos/Uds. hablaron

Preterite: Regular -er and -ir Verbs

-í

-iste

-ió

-imos

-ieron

Examples

Correr (to run): corrí, corriste, corrió, corrimos, corrieron

Abrir (to open): abrí, abriste, abrió, abrimos, abrieron

Imperfect: Regular -ar Verbs

-aba

-abas

-aba

-ábamos

-abais

-aban

Then, hablar in this course becomes hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablaban.

Imperfect: Regular -er and -ir Verbs

-ía

-ías

-ía

-íamos

-ían

Examples

Correr (to run): corría, corrías, corría, corríamos, corrían

Abrir (to open): abría, abrías, abría, abríamos, abrían

El Preterito

Phrases that Trigger the Preterite

A scattering of words and phrases bespeak specific time frames that signal the use of the preterite (vs imperfect). Let's take a look at some of them!

una vez – one time/once

el otro día – the other day

ayer – yesterday

anoche – last dark

la semana pasada – last week

el mes pasado – terminal month

el año pasado – last year

en ese momento – at that moment

durante (cinco) siglos – for (five) centuries

desde el primer momento – from the first moment

ayer por la tarde – yesterday afternoon

hoy por la mañana – this morning

hace (diez) años – (10) years ago

hace (tres) días – (iii) days agone

Verbs that (Almost) E'er Use the Preterite

Furthermore, verbs used to discuss events with a certain showtime and end are almost e'er used in the preterite. Por ejemplo:

casarse – to marry

graduarse – to graduate

cumplir años – to have a birthday

llegar – to arrive

darse cuenta de – to realize

morir – to die

decidir – to decide

nacer – to be born

descubrir – to discover

salir – to leave

You might likewise like to read:

Venir vs Llegar: They Don't Mean the Same Affair
How to Apply 'Darse Cuenta' in Castilian Conversation

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El Preterito Imperfecto

On the other hand, y'all'll exist using the imperfect tense to talk about past deportment without a definite end. Perhaps they are yet to be completed or they refer to a full general time in the past. The imperfect form is typically used for: habitually repeated actions; time and dates; someone's historic period in the past; characteristics; and mental or physical states.

Phrases that Trigger the Imperfect

Lucky for y'all, there are also a bunch of words and phrases that tend to signal that a verb should be used in the imperfect!

a menudo – often

frecuentemente – frequently

rara vez – rarely

a veces – sometimes

generalmente – ordinarily

siempre – ever

algunas veces – at times

mientras – while

todos los años – every year

cada día – every day

muchas veces – many times

todo el tiempo – all the time

con frecuencia – often

casi nunca – most never

por lo general – more often than not

todos los días – every 24-hour interval

de vez en cuando – once in a while

por un rato – for a while

en aquella época – at that time

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Preterite vs Imperfect Examples

These past tense forms are frequently used to talk about an ongoing action or event that was interrupted. Here, the interrupted activity uses the imperfect tense, while the interrupting action uses the preterite.

For instance:

Caminaba a la biblioteca cuando me encontré con el amor de mi vida.
I was walking to the library when I met the honey of my life.

Juana y Alberto hablaban de la reunión cuando llegué a la oficina.
Juana and Alberto were talking about the meeting when I got to the office.

Preterite vs Imperfect Statements

The rule of thumb for determining which tense to use is that the preterite talks about what you lot did, and the imperfect talks about what you lot were doing or what you used to do. Discover how the pregnant changes for these verbs in the preterite vs the imperfect.

Preterite	Imperfect
Conocí al presidente de la organización. I met the president of the organization.	**Conocía al presidente de la organización.** I knew the president of the arrangement.
Ya supieron del concierto. They already institute out about the concert.	Ya sabían del concierto. They already knew about the concert.
Ella tuvo una carta de su amiga. She received a letter from her friend.	Ella tenía una carta de su amiga. She had a letter from her friend.
Quise encontrar la tienda. I tried to detect the store.	Quería encontrar la tienda. I wanted to detect the store.
Yo no quise ir al centro comercial. I refused to go to the shopping center.	Yo no quería ir al centro comercial. I didn't want to get to the shopping centre.
No pudimos abrir la cuenta. We failed to open the account.	No podíamos abrir la cuenta. We were unable to open up the business relationship.
Toqué el piano. I played the piano.	Yo tocaba el piano. I used to play the piano.
Me comí las fresas. I ate the strawberries.	Yo comía las fresas. I was eating strawberries./I used to eat strawberries.

Preterite vs Imperfect Exercises

To test your noesis of when to use the preterite versus the imperfect, fill in the blank(s) past correctly conjugating the verbs in parenthesis.

1. Cuando era niña, ________ (JUGAR) con muñecas.

two. Los chicos ________ (HABLAR) en español.

3. Yo ________ (ESTAR) durmiendo cuando el teléfono ________ (SONAR).

iv. Cuando Ana _______ (TENER) tres años, ________ (SER) muy pequeña.

5. Mi hermano nunca me ________ (LLAMAR) antes de las once

6. Ella nunca me ________ (DAR) ningún regalo.

7. Entonces Jessica ________ (EMPEZAR) a tocar la música.

8. Los gemelos ________ (TENER) seis años de edad cuando _______ (NACER) su hermanita.

9. Yo ________ (PINTARSE) el pelo ayer.

10. Don Quijote siempre _______ (HACER) locuras por una dama, que ________ (LLAMARSE) Dulcinea.

Check out the answer key hither!

Preterite vs Imperfect Grammar Written report Activities

Looking for some more ways to study and practice with the past tense in Castilian? Here are a few fun ideas:

Use storytelling to practice the unproblematic past verb tenses. Tell your teacher or linguistic communication partner a story and ask them to correct your mistakes. Next, ask them to tell you a story, and pay close attention to their verb tenses.
Watch your favorite TV shows, videos, or movies with Spanish subtitles turned on. When a graphic symbol talks about the past, brand note of how the preterite versus the imperfect is used in the subtitles.
Have practice quizzes like this 1 to continue to solidify your skills!

Don't Dwell on the Past

Mastering Spanish grammar is tough! Practicing with some other person who tin give you feedback and constructive criticism is one of the most efficient ways to improve. Homeschool Spanish Academy offers flexible and fun Castilian classes for every level. Our native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala are eager to help you in communicating about the past, present, and time to come. Sign upwardly now for a gratuitous trial to see how quickly y'all can gain Spanish fluency.

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Answer Key

one. jugaba

2. hablaban

3. estaba, sonó

iv. tenía, era

five. llamaba

six. daba

7. empezó

eight. tenían, nació

9. me pinté

10. hacía, se llamaba

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Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a bilingual writer and longtime yoga teacher. A quondam advertizing copywriter turned bilingual elementary schoolhouse teacher, she is now a freelance writer, editor and translator. A native Texan, Michelle has Mexican roots and learned Spanish in middle and high school. She has get more fluent cheers to living equally an expat in Republic of guatemala. She lives with her family on beautiful Lake Atitlan.