Imperfect or PreteritMrs. HuffSpanish 3

Preterit Tense• Remember your wheel and your

giant/Grant chart of conjugations?• Need a copy of that chart?

é amos

aste

ó aron

í imos

iste

ió ieron

Imperfect Tense• Remember what we JUST took at test

over last week?

aba ábamos

abas

aba aban

ía íamos

ías

ía ían

What’s the difference?

• Both the PRETERIT and the IMPERFECT are tense about things that already happened, so . . .what’s the difference??• Title your notes: Reasons to use

the Preterit or Imperfect

Make a chart on your paper . . .Preterit TensePast Tense

Imperfect Tense

Preterit Tense1. One-time action

• It happened, it’s over• I FELL down the stairs.

2. Definite beginning and definite ending• Starting time and ending time• I GOT DRESSED for school.

3. Narration (of what happened)• Telling a story/sequence of events• Then I WENT into the cafeteria.

4. Interrupting action• An action that interrupts another action in the

past• He was doing his homework when I CALLED.

Imperfect Tense1. Ongoing action

• A past action in progress (was/were)• I WAS SLEEPING on my couch at 8:00.

2. Repeated action• Happened often (used to)• She USED TO PLAY with dolls.

3. No definite beginning or end• No start time and no real ending• When I WAS A CHILD, . . . .

4. Time/Date/Age/Feeling/Description• All of those . . • When I WAS 10 years old, I WAS skinny.

5. Interrupted activity• An action that gets interrupted• He WAS DOING his homework when I called.