EL IMPERFECTO – ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

There are two past tenses in Spanish: the preterite tense and the imperfect tense. You already know the forms of the preterite tense. A reminder of why we use the preterit is on the reverse side.

The “imperfect tense” lets us communicate description in the past. It is different from the “preterite tense,” which lets us communicate actions or events in the past.

It often, but not always, corresponds to “used to ___” or “was/were ___-ing” in English. When talking about the past it can also translate as “would ___.”

Specifically, the imperfect (never the preterit) is always used to communicate the following past description:

--someone’s age in the past (Ex. “She had four years when she received the puppy.”) --what the weather was like in the past (Ex. “It was raining when our plane landed.”) (Note: A weather event, like “it rained” or “there was a hurricane” would be in the preterit)

--time in the past (Ex. “It was one o’clock when they arrived.”) --what someone habitually used to do (Ex. “Every Sunday we would go to the park.”)

Often (but not always), the imperfect is used to communicate the following past description:

--a physical description of someone in the past (Ex. “He was tall and skinny.”) --someone’s mental state in the past (Ex. “She was totally confused.”) --someone’s emotional state in the past (Ex. “They were really angry.”)

REGULAR VERBS

-AR -ER -IR

| | | ______|______|______|______| | | ______|______|______|______| | | | | |

THERE ARE 3 IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE IMPERFECT.

SER : ______IR: ______VER: ______

IRREGULAR VERBS

SER IR VER

| | | ______|______|______|______| | | ______|______|______|______| | | | | |

1 Reminder: Why do we use the preterit?

The “preterit tense” lets us communicate over-and-done-with actions or events in the past.

It often, but not always, corresponds to “-ed” in English.

It is one of two past tenses. The imperfect, on the reverse side, communicates description in the past.

Specifically, the preterit (not the imperfect) is used to communicate the following past actions/events:

--a one-time action/event (ex. “We ate at that restaurant last night.”) --a series of actions/events (ex. “I got up, brushed my teeth, showered and ate breakfast.”) --actions completed within a specific time frame (ex. “I worked there from 2001-2003.”) --the beginning or ending of an action (ex. “He started grad school in 2005 and finished in 2007.”)

CONTRASTE DE VERBOS REGULARES

PRETÉRITO IMPERFECTO hablé I talked hablaba I used to talk, I was talking, I would talk (past) hablaste you talked hablabas you used to talk, you were talking, you would talk (past) habló s/he/it talked hablaba s/he/it used to talk, s/he/it was talking, s/he/it would talk (past) hablamos we talked hablábamos we used to talk, we were talking, we would talk (past) hablaron they/y’all talked hablaban they/y’all used to talk, they/y’all were talking, they/y’all would talk (p)

comí I ate comía I used to eat, I was eating, I would eat (past) comiste you ate comías you used to eat, you were eating, you would eat (past) comió s/he/it ate comía s/he/it used to eat, s/he/it was eating, s/he/it would eat (past) comimos we ate comíamos we used to eat, we were eating, we would eat (past) comieron they/y’all ate comían they/y’all used to eat, they/y’all were eating, they/y’all would eat (past)

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