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The Imperfect Tense vs. the Preterite Tense

The Imperfect Tense and the Preterite Tense are both ways to talk about actions that happened in the past. Learning when to use which is one of the more frustrating things a Spanish student has to do because we just don't think the same way in English. We have only one past tense conjugation and it tells us simply one thing: the action happened in the past.

I went fishing.

What's the time frame of this action? Clearly the fishing took place in the past. However, we don't know anything more about the situation than that, do we? For example: did the fishing occur once or many times?

To get across to the reader or listener important information such as how often this event occurred we have to add some extra information:

I went fishing yesterday.
I went fishing every morning at sunrise.

In the first sentence we know not only when this action happened but that it only happened once. In the second we know this event happened repeatedly.

Most of the decision to use either the preterite or the imperfect boils down to the difference in the two example sentences above. In Spanish, information as to whether the event happened once or went on for awhile is "built-in" to the conjugation you choose.

Let's start with the easy one...

The Imperfect Tense

One of the situations in which to use the imperfect tense is when talking about actions that happened repeatedly in the past. Because of this the imperfect is a very useful conjugation to use when talking about your childhood:

Los sábados yo miraba dibujos animados.
Saturday mornings I watched cartoons.

The English "watched" in Spanish becomes the imperfect "miraba" (rather than the preterite "miré") because we know from the context that this activity happened repeatedly (over the course of many Saturdays).

Because in English we only have one past tense conjugation, we often have to resort to adding additional words to get our exact meaning across. Consider:

Los sábados yo miraba dibujos animados.
Saturday mornings I would watch cartoons.

Note that the "would" in this example is not a hypothetical, conditional situation (click her for more on the conditional tense), but rather an auxiliary word that helps make clear the repetitive nature of the watching. Note also that the Spanish translation below it has not changed from the earlier example; it doesn't need to. The choice to use "miraba" rather than "miré" makes it clear to Spanish speakers that you're talking about an action that happened over and over.

Words such as "always," "frequently," "generally," "never," "often," "usually" "used to" and "would" clue us into the fact that we should probably be using the imperfect.

On the other hand...

The Preterite Tense

If the imperfect is used to describe actions that happened over and over again, what is the preterite used for? You're right! To talk about actions that happened only once:

Claudia rompió mi lápiz.
Claudia broke my pencil.

It doesn't explicitly say that Claudia's action only occurred once, but in this context it's safe to assume that it did. Since the action was a one-time event, we choose to use the preterite "rompió" rather than the imperfect "rompía." (If we did use "rompía" it would mean that Claudia did this sort of thing all the time and we should stop lending her pencils.)

If the imperfect is good for talking about a person's childhood, the preterite makes for a good "eye-witness testimony" tense because, like a witness in a jury trial or a student sent to the principal's office, the conversation tends to revolve around one specific event.

Contextual cues in the sentence such as a specific season, month, day, or time of day indicate to us that we should probably be using the preterite.

The Imperfect Tense (Part 2)

While we're on the subject, let's talk about why this tense is called the"imperfect." It doesn't have anything to do with quality, but rather the idea that the action was "incomplete;" it doesn't have a specific end (or beginning).

Because we're not attaching a specific beginning or end to the imperfect, another way we use it is to "set the stage" or describe the setting: people, places, situations, or conditions.

Marcos se sentía enfermo.
La plaza estaba decorada para la fiesta.
Ismeralda tenía que regresar a casa.
El tiempo hacía frio.

In these examples, by using the imperfect we're showing it's not important when these things started or ended, just that they were happening at that time: "Marcos felt sick." (We don't know exactly when he started feeling bad.) "The plaza was decorated for the party." (Who knows for how long?) "Ismeralda had to return home." (We're not sure when or if she able to.) "The weather was cold." (When the weather improved isn't important.)

We use the imperfect conjugation in these sentences because we don't have (or care about) a definitive time frame.

Still another situation in which we use the imperfect is to talk about things that were in progress at that time. Just like the Spanish present tense can be strictly translated into the present, or more loosely translated into the present progressive…

Hablo con mis padres.
I speak with my parents. / I am speaking with my parents.

…so too the imperfect can be used in an imperfect progressive sense:

Sonia leía el libro.
Sonia read the book. / Sonia was reading the book.

(Click here for more information about the progressive conjugations.)

But wait! There's more...

The Preterite Tense (Part 2)

Just when you were starting to feel like you had a handle on things, there's more you need to know about the preterite. One time events are easy enough, especially when they're instantaneous: "The window broke." "The car crashed." "The dynamite exploded." But some situations aren't as easy. If the action has a stated beginning, end, or duration, then we generally use the preterite:

La clase comenzó a las siete y media de la mañana.
Los partidos de fútbol terminaron el dos de junio.
Pablo pasó tres horas en la oficina del médico.

We use the preterite in these sentences because we know exactly when the action started, when it ended, or how long it lasted: "The class began at 7:30 in the morning." "The soccer games ended on the second of June." "Pablo spent three hours in the doctor's office."

But here's where it get's really tricky. There are also many times were a verb which would seem right at home in the imperfect can also be conjugated in the preterite. We do this when a time period is added to emphasize that the condition or situation is over and done with or that a change has in situation has occurred.

Let's look at some earlier examples once more, but this time with a more specific time frame in mind:

La semana pasada Marcos se sintío enfermo.
Ayer la plaza estuvo decorada para la fiesta.
Ismeralda tuvo que regresar a casa el martes.
El tiempo hizo frio hace dos días.

"Last week Marcos felt sick." (But he's feeling better now.) "Yesterday the plaza was decorated for the party." (But it isn't anymore.) "Ismeralda had to return home on Tuesday." (And she did.) The weather was cold two days ago." (But it's much warmer now.)

For the Visual Learners

Sometimes it can be advantageous to think in terms of a timeline. On the right side is the present (we'll ignore the future for now). Toward the left is the past.

If you know with any certainty when the action happened, you should be able to pinpoint on the timeline (with an arrow) exactly when it happened. On the other hand, if you find it difficult to pin down, you may have to indicate only an indefinite range (with a squiggly line) of the action.

An example:

Su padre regresó a la casa el domingo pasado.

"His father returned last Sunday." Assuming we know where Sunday is on the timeline, we can easily indicate exactly when the action happened with an arrow.

Another example:

Yo estudiaba mucho para las pruebas.

"I studied a lot for the quizzes." Multiple quizzes means it's not going to be easy to nail down exactly when this studying occurred. Better to draw a squiggly line to show we only have a rough idea.

So, what good does this do us? Whenever you would draw an arrow you should use the preterite; whenever you would draw a squiggly line you should use the imperfect.

One more example:

Esperanza rompió su brazo cuando era niña.

"Esperanza broke her arm when she was a girl." This sentence has two verbs which will both go on the timeline: Esperanza broke her arm and Esperanza was a girl. One of the verbs was a one-time event, the other was a situation with an indefinite time frame so we'll use both an arrow and a squiggly line.

It's not uncommon to have both preterite and imperfect conjugations in the same sentence.

Time and Age

In direct violation of our "definite time frame" rule for using the preterite, we use the imperfect for telling time and a person's age:

Eran las dos de la mañana.

Even though we know exactly when 2:00 o'clock in the morning started, ended, and lasted, think of it as a description of situation in progress rather than a completed action.

Mi hermano menor tenía cinco anos.

Likewise, even though we know exactly when your little brother became five, when he was no longer five, and how long he was five, think of his age as condition in that was in progress. The five years became six years on his sixth birthday but the action of "having years" didn't change.

Differences in Meaning

Most verbs have a straightforward English translation. But due to the differences in meaning between a preterite and imperfect verb, some verbs will have significant changes in how they should be translated. Hopefully by now these changes will make some sense to you:

A Final Note

One of the reasons learning when to use the preterite or the imperfect is so difficult is that it's not an exact science. Sometimes you can switch from one tense to the other without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence. Other times you'll completely change the meaning. There may be times when reading Spanish that you won't be able to tell why the author used the conjugation he or she did because it won't seem to follow any of the rules. Just roll with it. As you get more and more used to reading Spanish you'll be able to pick up on the subtle nuances that let you know why a verb is conjugated the way it is.