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Lawless Spanish » Mistakes and Difficulties

Pretérito vs Imperfecto
Tiempos pasados

One of the most striking differences between Spanish and English is in verb tenses. For English
speakers, learning how to use the various past tenses in Spanish can be very tricky (and vice versa),
because Spanish has several tenses which either do not exist or do not translate literally into English.

Anyone who has studied Spanish is aware of the troublesome relationship between the pretérito and
imperfecto. The imperfecto yo hablaba translates to the English imperfect "I was talking" while the
pretérito yo hablé literally translates to the English simple past "I talked" but can also be translated as
the English present perfect "I have talked" or the emphatic past "I did talk."

It’s vital to understand the distinctions between pretérito and imperfecto in order to use them correctly
and thus express past events accurately.

The pretérito indicates

I. A single event.

Fui a España el año pasado. I went to Spain last year.

Visité Barcelona el sábado. I visited Barcelona on Saturday.

II. One or more events or actions that began and ended in the past.

Fui a España. I went to Spain.

Visité unos museos. I visited some museums.

III. An event that occurred, interrupting another action (see imperfecto III below).

… cuando me dijeron la verdad. … when they told me the truth.

…cuando mi hija nació. … when my daughter was born.

IV. Changes in an existing physical or mental state at a precise moment or for a particular isolated cause

Tuve miedo cuando vi el perro. I was scared when I saw the dog.

The imperfecto is used for

I. A habitual or repeated action.

Iba a España cada año. I went (used to go) to Spain every year.

Visitaba mucho la Sagrada Familia. I often visited la Sagrada Familia.

II. An ongoing action with no specified completion.

Iba a España. I was going to Spain.

Visitaba unos museos . I was visiting museums.

III. Description/background information; set the scene of how things were or what was happening when
there was an interruption (see pretérito III above).

Vivía en Costa Rica cuando… I was living in Costa Rica when…

Estaba en mi cama cuando… I was in bed when…

IV. General description of physical or mental states of being.

Tenía miedo de perros. I was afraid of dogs.

V. Expression of the time of day or age in the past

Eran las cinco de la mañana. It was five a.m.

Era sus cumpleaños; tenía doce años. It was his birthday; he was twelve.

Thus the imperfecto is normally used for descriptions of the past, while the pretérito narrates specific
events. In addition, the imperfecto often sets the stage for an event expressed with the pretérito.

Compare these passages

Imperfecto

Cuando tenía dieciocho años, quería ser When I was eighteen, I wanted to be an
arquitecto. Me gustaba mucho la obra de Antoni architect. I really liked Antoni Gaudí’s work
Gaudí y esperaba comprender su genio. and I hoped to understand his genius.

Pretérito

Decidí estudiar en España e hice los formularios I decided to study in Spain and filled out the
de inscripción, pero las universidades no me application forms, but the universities did not
admitieron. Conocí a un pintor y comencé a admit me. I met a painter and started studying
estudiar con él. with him.

Trigger words
This list of key words and phrases may help you figure out whether to use imperfecto or pretérito.

Imperfecto Pretérito

siempre always una vez once

normalmente usually dos veces twice

a menudo often tres/cuatro/etc. veces three/four/etc. times

frecuentemente frequently muchas veces several times

a veces sometimes ayer yesterday

de vez en cuando from time to time un día one day

antes formerly el lunes on Monday

los lunes on Mondays bruscamente suddenly

cada día every day de repente all of a sudden

todos los días

Di!erent meanings
There are a few verbs in Spanish which have a different meaning depending on which past tense is
used.

Verb With pretérito With imperfecto

Conocer to meet to know

Poder could (was able to, could (a possibility – no indication as to whether it

succeeded) happened)

Querer to try to want, love

No querer to refuse to not want

Saber to learn, find out to know

Tener to receive to have

Tener* to get, become to be

* When used in expressions where it means "to be."

Past Tense Quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on pretérito vs imperfecto:

Micro kwiz

Las tapas

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take these tests. If you
don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

En français : Passé composé vs imparfait

Test yourself on some Spanish verb conjugations

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Esos libros select ... míos. (Those books used to be mine.)

Conjugate “ser” in El Pretérito Imperfecto

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