7.6 Pretérito e Imperfecto (I)

Estructuras y normas: A guide to mastering grammar for effective communication.

¡Sí puedo! Can-Do Statements

Identify uses of the imperfect for description and the preterite for narration of past events.

Imperfect for description Preterite for narration
As you learned before, the imperfect is used to:

  • express repeated, habitual, or usual actions in the past
  • describe actions that were ongoing in the past (with the expression “was/were____ing”)
  • describe what things were like in the past (with the expression “used to”)

Along these same lines, the imperfect is used to describe:

  • conditions of time, people, and places in the past.

The imperfect gives all the background information for when you are explaining/narrating a story.

The order of events with the imperfect is often unimportant.

Ejemplos:

  • Play AudioCuando vivía en Barranquilla…
  • Play AudioHabía un festejo.
  • Play AudioÉl era guapo con pelo largo.
If the order of events is important to advance a past narration, use the preterite.

The preterite focuses on what actions happened first and last in a story.

Ejemplos:

  • Play AudioCuando llegué a la casa, inmediatamente me fijé en su amigo.
  • Play AudioDe repente, la música sonó y todos buscaron parejas para bailar.

When telling a story, the preterite is used to facilitate the events. This shows that one action was completed before the next one began.

You can use time expressions to indicate the order of events such as: primero (first), antes (before), después (after), luego (then), entonces (then).

Ejemplos:

  • Play AudioPrimero llegué a la casa.
  • Play AudioDespués conocí a Ladislao.
  • Play AudioLuego bailamos.

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

¡Todos unidos! Communication in Spanish I Copyright © 2024 by Amelia Moreno and Camille Qualtere is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.