7.10 Pretérito e Imperfecto (II)
Estructuras y normas: A guide to mastering grammar for effective communication.
¡Sí puedo! Can-Do Statements
Distinguish the use of imperfect for ongoing actions and preterite for interrupting actions in the past.
Depending on how you combine the preterite and the imperfect, you are expressing a different meaning, because the tenses themselves have different relations to time.
In English, these distinctions are expressed with adverbs or prepositional phrases, but in Spanish, the choice of preterite or imperfect expresses not just that the action happened in the past, but also *how* the action happened.
1. A combination of imperfect with imperfect:
When you want to convey that two actions were ongoing at the same time in the past, you use the imperfect tense. You will often see the words “mientras” (while) and “y” to show that these actions were in progress simultaneously.
Examples:
2. A combination of preterite with preterite:
When you want to convey a series of completed actions in the past, you use the preterite tense for each of them. It is very important to state the events in chronological order.
Examples:
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- Mi tía se levantó a bailar, el tacón de su zapato se rompió y ella se cayó.
(My aunt got up to dance, the heel of her shoe broke off, and she fell.) - Mi tío la salvó antes de tocar el piso, la levantó y la hizo girar por un momento.
(My uncle caught her before she touched the floor, he lifted her up and twirled her for a moment.)
- Mi tía se levantó a bailar, el tacón de su zapato se rompió y ella se cayó.
3. A combination of imperfect with preterite:
When you want to show that an action was in progress when another action began, you use the imperfect for the continuous action and the preterite for the interrupting action.
Examples: