Spanish Past Tenses: Preterite vs. Imperfect – Complete Study Notes

Pretérito (Preterite)

Describes completed actions that occurred once or at a specific point in time and are now finished; often called the 'snapshot' tense.

Imperfecto (Imperfect)

Describes ongoing, habitual, or repetitive actions in the past without a clear endpoint; often called the 'moving picture' tense, providing background details.

Purpose of Imperfect in Narrative

To set the scene or describe ongoing background actions.

Purpose of Preterite in Narrative

To describe specific, one-time completed events within a narrative.

Preterite Time-frame Clarity

This tense is used for actions with a definite beginning and end, like 'Yesterday, I studied for 2 hours.'

Imperfect Scene-setting

This tense is used for habits or continuous actions without a precise start/end, like 'When I was a child, I used to play in the park.'