There are two simple past tenses in Spanish: the preterite and past imperfect. You already know how to build sentences in Spanish, you distinguish between ser and estar, you’ve mastered the present tense and can even use the four porques properly.īut talking about the past might be your first big challenge. This type of descriptive information requires the imperfect tense – and the action that comes after will be in the preterite.Preterite vs Imperfect in Spanish: Differences, Conjugations, Usages and More In many cases like this, it’s common to have an interruption in the preterite tense come afterwards. ¿No ibas a comprarle un regalo, primero? – Weren’t you going to buy them a present first?.Iba a la tienda cuando vi a Ángela – I was going to the store when I saw Ángela.If you just want to give background information or describe how something was in the past, then you’ll put the verbs in the imperfect tense. So instead of the preterite, we’ll use the imperfect conjugation to express a lack of time specificity. In both of these examples, the exact moment in the past isn’t specified – or doesn’t matter. Ella nunca iba a hacerlo – She was never going to do it.Los chicos iban al supermercado – The boys were going to the grocery store.In other words – the exact moment is unknown, or it doesn’t matter. We can also use the imperfect tense for examples where there isn’t a definite beginning or end. This is why we put Ir in the imperfect tense. In both of these events, you’re describing something that happened more than once, but in the past. Cuando éramos adolescentes, íbamos mucho a ese restaurante – When we were teenagers, we would go to that restaurant a lot.
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