Spanish Midterm: Imperfect vs Preterite

preterite tense

completed actions in the past

preterite tense of -ar verbs

e, aste, o, amos, aron

preterite tense of -er/-ir verbs

i, iste, io, imos, ieron

preterite SIC

summary of an event

Interrupting action

completed action

Summary of an event example

last sentence or summarizing sentence

Interrupting Action

was (were) doign something (imperfect)... cuando... happened (preterite)

Completed Action

verbs that happen once:

llegar, salir, comenzar, empezar, terminar, nacer, morir, decir, preguntar, contestar, etc.

imperfect tense

repeated actions or continued (ongoing) actions or events in the past. We (were) doing something or used to do something

imperfect tense WATERLOAD

Weather

Age

Time

Emotions

Repeated Action

Location

Ongoing Action

Attitude, Beliefs

Description

Weather

hacer buen tiempo

Age

tener...anos; ser joven/viejo

Time

serla una mediodia, etc

emotions and memory

estar nervioso, etc.

Repeated action

muchas veces, todos los veranos, siempre, etc.

Location

estar, quedar; etc.

ongoing action

was (were) doign something... mientras.. was (were) doing something

Attitude, beliefs

pensar, creer, saber, etc

Description

ser or estar + adjective

nadie

nobody

alguien

somebody

algo

something

nada

nothing

nunca

never

siempre

always

ningun

none

imperfect tense -ar

aba, abas, aba, abamos, aban

imperfect tense -er/-ir

ia, ias, ia, iamos, ian