| El Pretérito y el
imperfecto
Why are there two simple
past tenses in Spanish, the Preterite and the Imperfect?
The reason is because there
are different ways
you can envision or conceive events and
descriptions in the past. You can conceive or present them
-
as something dated (with
a time limit, which
can either be the beginning, the end or beginning and
end) and clearly
completed or
-
as something timeless (without
caring about when something ended or began) and appearently ongoing(even
though this is not the case because we are talking about something that
happend in he past).
In the first case you
use the Preterite and in the second the Imperfect.
| Preterite: |
Imperfect: |
| Jugué
mucho con mis hermanos cuando era niño. (I played a lot
with my brothers when I was a child)
(The use of the preterite
implies that I am not playing with my brothers anymore.) |
Jugaba
mucho con mis hermanos cuando era niño. (I used to play
a lot with my brothers when I was a child.)
(The use of the imperfect
doesn't tell anything about whether or not I still play with my brothers.
All it says is that I used to do it.) |
| Su
nombre fue Garzón.(His name was Garzón.)
(The use of the preterite
implies somehow that his name is not Garzón anymore.) |
Su
nombre era Garzón.(His name was Garzón.)
(The use of the imperfect
just states that his name was Garzón, and we can assume that it
still is.) |
But don't worry too much about
this question. Spanish speakers will understand you even if you use only
the preterite tense(assuming that you are using the correct verb forms).
Later, when you get a better feeling for the language and when you have
had enough exposure to Spanish, you will be able to decide when it is better
to use the preterite and when the imperfect.
In the sections How
to use the Preterite and how
to use the Imperfect
we will give you some rules of thumb for when
to use both tenses
|