<p> EL IMPERFECTO – ORGANIZATIONAL CHART</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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 ___.” </p><p>Specifically, the imperfect (never the preterit) is always used to communicate the following past description:</p><p>--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)</p><p>--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.”)</p><p>Often (but not always), the imperfect is used to communicate the following past description:</p><p>--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.”)</p><p>REGULAR VERBS</p><p>-AR -ER -IR</p><p>| | | ______|______|______|______| | | ______|______|______|______| | | | | |</p><p>THERE ARE 3 IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE IMPERFECT.</p><p>SER : ______IR: ______VER: ______</p><p>IRREGULAR VERBS</p><p>SER IR VER </p><p>| | | ______|______|______|______| | | ______|______|______|______| | | | | |</p><p>1 Reminder: Why do we use the preterit?</p><p>The “preterit tense” lets us communicate over-and-done-with actions or events in the past. </p><p>It often, but not always, corresponds to “-ed” in English.</p><p>It is one of two past tenses. The imperfect, on the reverse side, communicates description in the past.</p><p>Specifically, the preterit (not the imperfect) is used to communicate the following past actions/events: </p><p>--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.”)</p><p>CONTRASTE DE VERBOS REGULARES</p><p>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)</p><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)</p><p>2</p>