Preterit Imperfect

~simple “–ed” tense in English (one-time, ~Not as time specific as preterit. Either
completed actions.) description (not action at all) or on-going actions--
“used to ___” or “was ____ ing.”

Ejemplos: Ejemplos:

1. Last night, I watched a movie. 1. The beach was beautiful.

2. In 2006, we went to Disney World. 2. When I was a kid, I drank (used to drink) a
3. Yesterday, I got/received an interesting lot of chocolate milk.
email. 3. We used to win the championship every
4. We won the game last week. year.
5. Last summer, they went to the beach. 4. Eva used to be shy.
6. Juan bought a car last Saturday. 5. We used to play on the playground “a lot.”
6. Elena was swimming while we were doing
our homework.

Verbs for above sentences are here in case you want to use them later for sentences. But, please know that the main objective
first is to grasp the concept of which tense is which.
*miré, fuimos, recibí (or tuve), ganamos, fueron, compró *era, era & bebía (or tomaba), ganábamos, era, jugábamos, nadaba & hacíamos
 What I Do Normally (Present) What I Did Last Week (Preterit) What I Used to Do (Imperfect)
Normal
Verbs -o Normal
Verbs -é / í Normal
Verbs -aba / -ía
I am
Soy / I was
Fui / I used to Era /
be
Estoy Estuve Estaba
I have Tengo I “got” Tuve I used to
have Tenía
I go Voy I went Fui I used to
go Iba
I do/make Hago I did/made Hice I used to
do/make Hacía
I like
Me I liked
Me I used to Me
like
gusta gustó gustaba
I can
Puedo I could
(and did) Pude I was able Podía
I say Digo I said Dije I used to
say Decía
I know Sé I found
out Supe I knew Sabía
I want Quiero I “tried” Quise I used to
want Quería
I enjoy
Disfruto I enjoyed
Disfruté I used to
enjoy Disfrutaba
Below are two links with more examples that may help you:
http://languagelinks2006.wikispaces.com/Preterite+vs.+Imperfect
http://www.amylenord.net/uploads/2/3/8/2/23820400/telling_my_own_story_-_preterite_imperfect_notes.pdf