1. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
The preterite tense is often called the simple past. It’s equivalent to the –ed endings we use.
Hablo Hablé
I talk I talked
Abres Abriste
You open You opened

2. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
Preterite endings for -ar verbs Yo
Nosotros Tú
Vosotros
Usted Él
Ella
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas -é
-amos
-asteis
-aste -ó
-aron

3. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
Preterite endings for -er / -ir verbs Yo
Nosotros Tú
Vosotros
Usted Él
Ella
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas -í
-imos
-isteis
-iste
-ió
-ieron

4. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
The imperfect tense is used for habits or ongoing action. It’s equivalent to when we use “was” ____-ing, or when you talk about what you “used to” do something.
Hablo Hablaba
I talk I was talking OR I used to talk
Abres Abrías
You open You were opening OR you used to open
Just as with the SpongeBob example in the bellwork, imperfect implies an action in progress, or a habit.

5. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
Imperfect endings for -ar verbs Yo
Nosotros Tú
Vosotros
Usted Él
Ella
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas
-aba
-ábamos
-abais
-abas
-aba
-aban

6. Pretérito vs Imperfecto Día 1
Imperfect endings for -er / -ir verbs Yo
Nosotros Tú
Vosotros
Usted Él
Ella
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas
-ía
-íamos
-íais
-ías
-ía
-ían

7. Preterite VS Imperfect
Action(s) in progress in the past (ex: was running)
Repeated, habitual actions (used to)
Interrupted action
Telling what the time, weather, or age was
Descriptions or physical/mental state
Use for single, past events, or a specific moment in time.
Use for a list of sequential actions.
Use for actions that interrupt ongoing action.
Use for verbs referring to the senses (hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, mouth)

8. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
1. The Timeline---If you think about the whole set of events on a timeline, preterite are the points, imperfect are the things you have to block off.
Yo aprendía el español (ongoing action happening along the line)
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.
Recibí mi libro del español (a moment in time)
Yo aprendí del pretérito (an event on the line)

9. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
2. Beginning/Middle/End---If you think about the beginning or the end of an action, it is preterite. If you are only focused on the middle, it’s imperfect.
Yo caminaba todos los días. (I used to walk every day)—Obviously, you started walking and stopped at some point, but you don’t care about that right now. All the speaker cares about is that the middle part occurred (the walking, not the starting or stopping).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

10. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
2. Beginning/Middle/End---If you think about the beginning or the end of an action, it is preterite. If you are only focused on the middle, it’s imperfect.
Yo caminé, ayer. (I walked yesterday)—The focus here is on the completion of this action. For whatever reason, it is important to the speaker that the listener know the walking was completed. The focus in on completion (beginning and end).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

11. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
2. Beginning/Middle/End
Yo caminaba mucho de niño, y un día un serpiente estaba en el camino. (I walked a lot as a kid, and one day a snake was in the path.)—No one cares when the snake arrived nor when it left. They care the snake was in the middle of being in the road when you were in the middle of walking in that same road.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

12. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action---If the verb implies an action, or a moment of choice (even the act of refusing to act), it’s probably preterite. If the verb implies no change from the status quo, it’s probably imperfect.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.
Exceptions exist (see next slides)

13. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when actions take imperfect
Habitual acts (participating in your habit is the normal state of affairs, not a change)
Moments in time (if acts are caught in progress and we’re told what was happening when the speaker saw them, most of those are imperfect, because the focus in on the middle of the act not the beginning nor end).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

14. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when actions take imperfect
Future in the past (there’s no good explanation, just the rule that when you discuss what was going to happen, you use imperfect).
This includes moments reporting what someone said. If they said they were going to do something, you use imperfect for that future action.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

15. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when non-actions take preterite
Change of status quo (for instance, most the time belief is a non-action verb and represents a status quo, but if something happens and you come to belief, you are acting. Think about religious conversions. Something happens and in a moment your religion changes.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

16. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when non-actions take preterite
Reactions (This is putting in a new status quo. For instance, I don’t like tofu, but one time I found a restaurant where the tofu was good and liked it. 99% of the time, “gustar” takes imperfect, but since my liking was a reaction to a particular food and not a habitual feeling about that food, it would be preterite).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

17. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when non-actions take preterite
Moments changing status quo (an example of this would be when you talk about knowing a fact or person. Generally, knowledge is spoken of in imperfect, since it is a state rather than a moment, but if you find something out or if you meet someone, there is a moment that changes the status quo and that is preterite).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

18. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
3. Action vs. Non-action
Exceptions: when non-actions take preterite
Time limits (Ex: Yo estaba enojado. VS. Yo estuve enojado por dos horas. In the 2nd sentence, you have a definite start and end, so it must be preterite. It’s a point along a timeline. This is different from things like “when I was a child…” where the start and end aren’t really defined and the focus is your habit).
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

19. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
4. Completed vs. Incomplete---If you speak of a past event, and treat it as completed within the time you discuss, it’s preterite. If you think of a past event thinking it was incomplete within the time period you’re talking about, it’s imperfect.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.
Comí la cena. (Yesterday, I ate supper.)—You’re talking about a completed act, viewing it as completed. It’s done. It’s preterite.

20. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
4. Completed vs. Incomplete
Cuando éramos niños, pensábamos que nunca ibamos a crecer. (When we were little, we thought we’d never grow up.)—You’re talking about when you were little, and for the entire period you’re discussing, that act was incomplete. This way of thinking has, probably, ended by now, but within the period you’re discussing, your view is that it was incomplete.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.

21. Ways to think about preterite vs. imperfect
5. Advancing Action vs. Details
The verbs of a story can be divided into two kinds.
Verbs that advance the action (preterite). “I walked down the street”
And verbs that don’t advance the action, but add flavor (imperfect). “I was going to the store, when a cat attacked me.” The story isn’t about the going, it’s about the cat attack. The going is flavoring.
Adapted from Dozier, Eleanor, and Zulma Iguina. "Past Indicative Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect vs. Pluperfect." Manual De Gramática. Boston: Thompson, Heinle, Print.