el pretérito y el imperfecto ¡como los usamos juntos!
TRANSCRIPT
El pretérito y
el imperfecto¡Como los usamos
juntos!
The preterit
Uses we’ve gone over:• Single, completed action or event– Ayer comí una hamburguesa
• Series of completed actions or events– Tomaste dos clases de cocinar el año pasado
• The beginning or end of an action– Empezó a llover al mediodía– Terminé el informe esta mañana
Common expressions that indicate the preterit:
• Entonces• De momento• Ayer• Anteayer• Aquel día/mes/año• Aquella semana• El otro día• En __(mes)___• El __(día)__
• De repente• Por fin• Una noche / un día• Una vez• Anoche• La semana pasada• El mes / año pasado• En 1999 (un año)• El 25 de julio (fecha)
Verbs that change meaning in the preterit:
• Saber– Paco supo lo que había
pasado.
• Conocer– Conocí a Miguel en café.
• Poder– Pudimos ganar el debate– No pude llegar a tiempo
• Querer– Quisieron bailar el tango.– No quiso ir al baile
conmigo.
• Found out– Paco found out what had
happened
• Met (for the 1st time)– I met Mike at the café.
• Succeeded in/managed to– We succeeded in winning – I didn’t manage to arrive…
• Tried / +no=refused– They tried to dance…– He refused to go to the
dance with me.
The imperfect• T: time• H: habits (used to, was/were, would)• E: emotions (mental & physical states)• W: weather• A: age / non-specific actions (no start or end)
• D: description / background
Non-action verbs…
• Non action verbs such as saber, conocer, querer, estar, creer, and tener are usually in the imperfect
• They retain their original definition in the past tense
Common expressions with the imperfect
• Generalmente• Constantamente• Siempre• Todos los días• Frecuentamente• Normalmente• De costumbre• En aquel entonces
• A menudo• A veces• Con frecuencia• Por lo general• Regularmente• Todos los días (etc.)• Todas las tardes (etc.)• Cada día / semana / año
Haber: there was, there were (impersonal)
Preterit:• Hubo un terremoto en
México en año pasado.
• Used to express an action totally completed within a definite period of time
Imperfect:• Había mucha gente en el
estadio cuando nuestro equipo ganó.
• Used to express background information
UGH!!!!
Spanish nerd talk:The primary function of a verb is to help a speaker
represent a certain situation according to an internal structure, or aspect.
Among other things, this implies that every situation a person describes (real or hypothetical) has to start, continue for some determined time, and usually finish.
The preterit and imperfect tenses in Spanish help us differentiate the various aspects of a situation that we would associate with the past perspective.
More nerdiness So even though using the different past tenses
can help determine a precise aspect of a situation (start, duration, or finish), we must remember that it also deals with the PERSPECTIVE of the speaker.
…its just not that concrete to say preterit = complete and imperfect = on going
HUH?• When we use the preterit
we are emphasizing the precise start or the completion of the action.
• We’re accentuating the fact that it ended
• When we use the imperfect we are emphasizing the in progress part of the action, the repeated nature of the action, or the intent to complete another action.
• This is why we generally use the preterit to describe a single ACTION (it has to have a start / end), and use imperfect to describe emotions, physical and mental states (doesn’t necessarily end), repeated actions and actions that were in progress so we can talk about a second action that took place.
Visually:
Pretéritoinicio
Pretéritoterminación
Imperfectoduración
Acción Estado
Okay…so….Examples!1. Venían a visitarnos en junio. They were coming to visit us in June…(and actually
did. OR they were planning to and then something else happened.)
2. Vinieron a visitarnos en junio.They came to visit us in June…(yep, it happened!)
…notice that the imperfect sentence needs some further clarification
1. Anoche bailábamos en una discoteca…Last night we were dancing at a club…(when the
power went out and we all had to leave…OR some other continuation of the story.)
2. Anoche bailamos en una discoteca…Last night we danced at a club…(Yep! We
danced. Its over.)In both cases, the action is presently over. But in using the
preterit, we are accentuating that its over. In using the imperfect, we are setting up for something else to happen.
Vamos a practicar más…
Actividad C; p. 26
Las respuestas:1. Se levantaron2. dijeron3. era 4. se encontraba5. iba6. había oído7. temían8. era
1. día especifico
2. acción terminada
3. Right now (en progreso)
4. Came across (ya permanece)
5. Was (y todavía es…)
6. Had heard
7. Were worried (emoción)
8. Descripción
9. iba 10. había11. despertaron12. se levantó13. se vistió14. bajó15. estaban16. se dieron17. significaba
9. Intención / posibilidad10.Información al fondo11.Acción completada12.Acción completada13.Acción completada14.Acción completada15.Emoción 16.Realized (un momento)17.Intencion / todavía
permanece
18. estaba19. llegó20. estaban21. recordaron22. eran23. hacían24. llegaron
18. Emocion19. Un momento instantaneo20. Emocion21. Accion completada22. Descripcion23. Descripcion del padaso24. Came to (ya terminó el momento)
¿Cómo están Uds.?¿Lo entiendes
mejor que antes?
¡Sí!
¡No!