El pretérito y el imperfecto

You learned to use the preterite tense to talk about actions completed in the past. The imperfect tense describes events that occurred in the past.The imperfect is used:• To speak about background events in a story• To talk about something you used to do as a

habit• To speak about how old someone was• To say what time it was

To form the imperfect tense, you take the root of the verb (before the –ar, -er, or –ir ending) drop the ending, then add the following:

-AR verbs -Er / -IR verbs

aba ábamos

abas

aba aban

ía íamos

ías

ía ían

cantar

cantaba cantábamos

cantabas

cantaba cantaban

tener

tenía teníamos

tenías

tenía tenían

serera éramos

eras

era eran

iriba íbamos

ibas

iba iban

verveía veíamos

veías

veía veían

Special meanings• Conocer : • Conocí a Juan hace cinco años. I met Juan five years ago.

(completed action)• En aquella época conocíamos muy bien la ciudad. At that time we knew the

city very well. (no definite beginning or end)•  • Querer: • María quiso comprar la casa. Maria tried to buy the house. (completed

action)• Juan quería comprar la casa. Juan wanted to buy the house. (no definite

beginning or end)• No querer:   • María no quiso comprar la casa. Maria refused to buy the house. (completed

action)• Juan no quería comprar la casa. Juan did not want to buy the house.(no

definite beginning or end)

Special meanings• Saber:  • María lo supo ayer. Maria found out yesterday. (completed action)• Juan sabía que María estudiaba. Juan knew that Maria was

studying. (no definite beginning or end)• Poder:   • María pudo levantar la mesa. Maria succeeded in lifting the table.

(completed action)• Juan podía participar en el concierto. Juan was able to participate

in the concert. (no definite beginning or end)• Tener: • María tuvo una carta de su mamá. Maria received a letter from her

mom.(completed action)• Juan tenía un coche nuevo. Juan used to have a new car. (no

definite beginning or end)

1. When I was little, I played hide-and-seek with my cousins and friends.

_________________________________________________________________________________________2.My little brother always told jokes. There was much laughter!_________________________________________________________________________________________3.Did you climb trees or did you jump rope yesterday?______________________________________________________________________________________4. My little sister always built with blocks. She was creative.______________________________________________________________________________________

5.My best friend (fem) was animated and sociable. ______________________________________________________________________________________6.I liked school a lot (watch out, think about gustar and how it would be conjugated for one item) and I got good grades. It was really easy! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________7. When my great-grandmother was little, her family was poor, but they were happy. ______________________________________________________________________________________8. Last week all my relatives came to the party to celebrate my birthday. ______________________________________________________________________________________

9. There were twins in my class last year.______________________________________________________________________________10. My mother was successful in returning (to return) to work after having my sister.______________________________________________________________________________________11. I was always embarrassed in school and my face was always red.______________________________________________________________________________________

12. My dad was always careful when he played with us.______________________________________________________________________________________13. My sister’s boyfriend was jealous when she spent time with her friends.______________________________________________________________________________________ 14. In school, my sister was shy, but at home, she was fun and animated. ______________________________________________________________________________

¿P o I?

Cuando yo 1.___________(ser) joven, mi mejor amiga 2. _______________(llamarse) Yolanda, pero su apodo 3. __________________(ser) Yoli. Yoli y yo siempre 4. _____________ (andar) juntas.A nosotras nos 5. ______________gustar) hacer las mismas cosas. Por ejemplo, a ella le 6.______________ (gustar) escribir cuentos y a mi me 7. _______________(gustar) escribir poemas. Yo 8.___________________(compartir) mis ideas con ella. Ella me 9._______________(influir) mucho.

• Un día Yoli 10. _____________(estar) en mi casa cuando me 11. ____________(decir), “¿Por qué no vamos al centro comercial?” Aunque me

12. ______________(parecer) buena idea, yo 13.____________(saber) que no 14.___________ (poder) ir sin pedir permiso a mis papas. Pero mis papás 15. ______________(estar) en el trabajo. “¡Anda, vamos!” me 16._______________(repetir) hasta que me 17._______________(convencer).

Al llegar al centro comercial, la primera persona que 18.______(ver) 19._____________(ser) mi tía. Mi tía inmediatamente 20._____________(llamar) a mis padres para decirles que 21._________________(estar) fuera de casa sin permiso.Ese día, 22. __________ (resolver) jamás hacerle caso a Yoli.