When dealing with the past tense, it can seem like a bit of a minefield because there are various types to use. Choosing when to use the PRETERITE and when to use the IMPERFECT can be really hard so here’s a simple explanation of these two different past tenses, that will help you make a choice.
In a nutshell, these are used to talk about what you did or were doing and used to do in the past.
Some people refer to the PRETERITE tense as the DOT past because we use it to talk about individual actions that happened and would kind of leave a dot on a history timeline.
People then often refer to the IMPERFECT tense as the DOT DOT DOT past because we use it to talk about what was going on over a period of time, or what used to happen habitually, leaving more than just one just dot on a history timeline.
Read on for more insight into these two tenses…
A SIMPLE EXPLANATION FOR PRETERITE
We use the PRETERITE (DOT past) to say what you did or what happened in the past.
(NOT what you were doing and NOT was happening.)
It is a one off, finished action. It’s done and dusted, not something that was going on.
For example:
| I went to town. Fui al centro. | She cooked the dinner. Cocinó la cena. | They started* the chores. Comenzaron los quehaceres. *Even if you say ‘I started’, you have still completed the action of starting something. Therefore, it would still be the PRETERITE (DOT past) |
Certain time phrases can help us choose when to use the PRETERITE (DOT past).
These link to single actions and usually signal quite specific points in the past.
For example:
Yesterday/ first / then / once / in that moment / never / last Tuesday / in 1995/ 5 minutes ago.
These are quite specific time frames and tie in nicely when saying when a single action happened.
i.e.
- Yesterday, I went to the supermarket.
- 5 minutes ago, there was a flash of lightning.
Here are some examples with the Spanish:
| I booked the tickets this afternoon. Reservé los billetes esta tarde. | They went out last night. Salieron anoche. |
| We watched a film last Wednesday. Vimos una película el miércoles pasado. | It rained this morning. Llovió esta mañana. |
As mentioned, these time phrases can help us make a decision on which tense to use. However, it’s not always straight forward. You’ll find more details about how these ‘time phrases’ can help or hinder us further down this blog.
A SIMPLE EXPLANATION FOR IMPERFECT
We use the IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past) to talk about what was going on (setting the scene and describing what was happening).
It’s quite the opposite to the use of PRETERITE (DOT past) because it’s not about one off actions. Instead, we use the IMPERFECT to describe how things were (how they used to be), ongoing or repeated actions and to describe what was (progressively) happening.
i.e.
- I used to go to school by bus.
- I was going to school on the bus.
- It was raining.
- It was a cold and stormy night.
- She was really worried.
Again, certain time phrases can help us choose when to use the IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past).
These time phrases link to habitual actions and usually are not so specific.
For example:
Every week / most days / when I was younger / always / usually
- I used to go to my grandma’s house every week.
- When I was younger I played football (I used to play football).
- It was always sunny in the school holidays when I was younger.
Examples including these time phrases with the Spanish:
| Every week, I used to sing in the choir. Cada semana, cantaba en el coro. | When I was young, I used to live in Spain. Cuando era joven, vivía en España. |
| Usually, it was sunny during the Easter week. Usualmente, hacía sol durante la Semana Santa. | We always washed (used to wash) our hands before eating. Siempre nos lavábamos las manos antes de comer. |
Like I mentioned previously, these time phrases can help but also hinder us (at times) when making a decision on which tense to use. You’ll read more about this in the next section of this blog.
So why do people still struggle to choose between the PRETERITE and IMPERFECT if there are time markers and different translations?
Firstly:
The thing people struggle with is the fact that anything that has happened in the past is ‘completed’ so try not to get stuck on this.
It’s about asking yourself…
Are you saying that ‘an action happened’?
I.e. I went/I cooked/I saw, which is PRETERITE (DOT past)
Or are you saying…?
‘This was going on‘, ‘This is what I used to do‘ and ‘This is how things were‘.
I.e. I was going / I used to cook/ Is was cold, which is IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past).
Secondly:
Often, you need to look at the message behind what you are saying to decide whether to use PRETERITE (DOT past) or IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past) not just the actual words that you say.
For example:
When I was little I played football for my school.
If you mean:
‘I played football once’ then you need PRETERITE (DOT past)
Cuando era pequeño jugué al fútbol.
If you mean:
‘I used to play football’ then you need IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past)
Cuando era pequeño jugaba al fútbol.
Therefore, you need to keep in mind that what you say may not match with what you actually mean and it is the meaning that you need to focus on when choosing between PRETERITE (DOT past) and IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past)
Finally:
As I mentioned before, time phrases can help us decide, for example ‘once‘ or every week. However, some time phrases could go with either past tense. Again, it depends on the actual meaning behind what you say.
I.e. Last Saturday
This seems like quite a specific time phrase and it would initially make you think, ‘I need the PRETERITE‘. However, depending on what is being said with it (the context), you may need the the IMPERFECT:
| Last Saturday, I read a magazine. (PRETERITE/ DOT past) El sábado pasado, leí una revista. | Last Saturday, I was reading a magazine (IMPERFECT/DOT DOT DOT past) when the phone rang. El sábado pasado, leía una revista cuando el teléfono sonó. |
Here you can see that ‘Last Saturday‘ can actually be used with both past tenses but it’s the rest of the information around what you are saying that determines what you mean and which tense you need to use.
Also, notice how in the second sentence, ‘when the phone rang’ was PRETERITE. This is because is was a single, completed action that interrupted the ongoing action ‘I was reading‘ (IMPERFECT). This structure, whereby you have a single action that interrupts an ongoing action, is quite typical, so it is very common to find both the PRETERITE and IMPERFECT tenses together in one sentence.
Keeping all of this in mind, when dealing with the past tense, can really make it hard to gain confidence when choosing between these tenses… because you learn a set of rules of when to use the PRETERITE and one set of rules of when to use the IMPERFECT, and time markers that help, but then you may see them used differently to how you expect. Just remember that this will be because of the meaning behind the words, not just the words!
One final pain in the…
Now and again, you’ll come across a sentence in Spanish and you’ll think… I’m sure that either tense would work here. This happens especially when saying ‘WAS‘.
For example: Diana was the wife of Charles.
The first thing to do is decide if you need SER or ESTAR (in this case you’d need SER because you are following the word WAS with a noun ‘the wife’). Then you’ll need to decide if it needs to be the PRETERITE or the IMPERFECT.
So…
‘Diana was the wife of Charles’ could be translated as either of the following:
- Diana fue la esposa de Charles. (PRETERITE/DOT Past)
- Diana era la esposa de Charles. (IMPERFECT/ DOT DOT DOT past)
You could argue that both would work and two different people could choose either one. The difference is the message that the speaker wants to emphasise.
By using the PRETERITE and saying ‘Diana fue la esposa de Charles’, the speaker is emphasising the fact that she is no longer his wife.… That this situation of her being the wife of Charles is FINISHED.
By using the IMPERFECT and saying ‘Diana era la esposa de Charles’ the speaker is emphasising the fact that she used to be his wife. However, it’s not so important to the speaker, that they emphase the fact that she is no longer his wife.
As mentioned previously, both sentences mean the same thing but by choosing to use one tense over the other (at least in this example anyway) we can emphasise the point we want to make without actually saying ‘this part of what I’m saying is the most important bit for me’... the fact that she used to be his wife, or the fact that her marriage to him has ended.
In conclusion
Choosing whether to use the PRETERITE (DOT past) or IMPERFECT (DOT DOT DOT past) is one of the hardest parts of perfecting your Spanish. However, I can safely say that the best approach is to keep in mind that:
1: The PRETERITE tense (AKA the DOT past) is used to talk about actions that happened and are done and dusted (completed), like a dot in history.
2: The IMPERFECT tense (AKA the DOT DOT DOT past) is used it to talk about what was going on over a period of time, or what used to happen (like more than just one just dot in history) and to describe how something was and what was happening… I like to call this, ‘setting the scene’.
3: Time markers can help but do not always tell us the correct tense to use because you need to consider the context (the other things) that are being said.
4: It’s not always about the words you use, it’s about the meaning behind the words... that’s the key message that needs to be carried and that is what you need to keep in mind when you choose.
Ultimately, just remember that understanding someone else’s use of the past tense is not so hard if you know the general rules of what each tense translates to. The difficulty is when you produce Spanish and the key point is that if you know what you want to say (what you actually mean) then you can make your decision appropriately and the intended message will be carried forward.
As always, the best way to gain confidence when using these two past tenses is to practise…
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