Español 5: Guía de Estudio - Pretérito vs. Imperfecto y Vocabulario

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Spanish past tenses (pretérito vs. imperfecto), irregular imperfect verbs, special meaning changes in the past tense, verbs, nouns, adjectives, and automobile terminology.

Pretérito

Spanish past tense used for completed actions, a series of completed actions, the beginning or end of an action, a specific event or change, or an action at a specific time.

Imperfecto

Spanish past tense used for actions that were ongoing, habits and repeated actions, background descriptions, weather and time, and feelings or physical/mental conditions.

Ser (imperfect conjugations)

era, eras, era, éramos, eran (to be)

Ir (imperfect conjugations)

iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, iban (to go)

Ver (imperfect conjugations)

veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veían (to see)

Conocí vs. Conocía

Conocí (pretérito) means 'met', whereas conocía (imperfecto) means 'knew/was acquainted with'.

Supe vs. Sabía

Supe (pretérito) means 'found out', whereas sabía (imperfecto) means 'knew'.

Pude vs. Podía

Pude (pretérito) means 'managed to', whereas podía (imperfecto) means 'could/was able to'.

No pude vs. No podía

No pude (pretérito) means 'failed to', whereas no podía (imperfecto) means 'was unable to'.

Quise vs. Quería

Quise (pretérito) means 'tried/wanted and acted', whereas quería (imperfecto) means 'wanted'.

No quise vs. No quería

No quise (pretérito) means 'refused', whereas no quería (imperfecto) means 'didn’t want'.

Tuve vs. Tenía

Tuve (pretérito) means 'received/had at a specific moment', whereas tenía (imperfecto) means 'had'.

Tuve que vs. Tenía que

Tuve que (pretérito) means 'had to and completed it', whereas tenía que (imperfecto) means 'had to; completion unclear'.

Costó vs. Costaba

Costó (pretérito) means 'cost at a specific time', whereas costaba (imperfecto) means 'used to cost / generally cost'.

Conducir

To drive

Manejar

To drive

Gastar

To spend / to waste

Fabricar

To manufacture

Considerar

To consider

Preferir

To prefer

Inventar

To invent

Fabricado

Manufactured (past participle of fabricar)

Gastado

Spent / wasted (past participle of gastar)

Inventado

Invented (past participle of inventar)

Preferido

Preferred (past participle of preferir)

El apodo

Nickname

El/la dueño/a

Owner

La época

Era

La imagen

Image

La novedad

Novelty / news

El concepto

Concept

El exterior

Exterior / outside

El interior

Interior / inside

El invento

Invention

La preferencia

Preference

La fabricación

Manufacturing / production

El gasto

Spending / waste

La velocidad

Speed

Ágil

Agile / quick

Espacioso/a

Spacious

Lujoso/a

Luxurious

Manejable

Easy to handle

Potente

Powerful

El auto compacto

Compact car

El descapotable / convertible

Convertible

La furgoneta / el monovolumen

Minivan

El híbrido

Hybrid; a car that uses a combination of gasoline and electric power

El todoterreno

All-terrain vehicle

El vehículo deportivo utilitario (SUV)

Sport utility vehicle

Los asientos de cuero

Leather seats

Las bandas decorativas

Decorative stripes

La tracción a cuatro ruedas

Four-wheel drive; delivers power to all four wheels

Los kilómetros por hora

Kilometers per hour

Los kilómetros por litro/galón

Kilometers per liter/gallon