| A | B |
|---|
| telling or giving someone's age in the past | imperfecto |
| verb of communication in the past | pretérito |
| a series of completed actions | pretérito |
| description in the past | imperfecto |
| beginning or end of an action in the past | pretérito |
| two actions occurring at the same time with no reference to their completion | imperfecto |
| an action in progress | imperfecto |
| an interruption of an action in progress | pretérito |
| non-action verbs conveying emotion or state of being | imperfecto |
| weather used as background for other actions | imperfecto |
| saber - knew | imperfecto |
| saber - found out | pretérito |
| generalmente | imperfecto |
| siempre | imperfecto |
| frecuentemente | imperfecto |
| por lo general | imperfecto |
| a veces (sometimes) | imperfecto |
| de vez en cuando (from time to time) | imperfecto |
| CADA (every) día, semana, mes, año, etc. | imperfecto |
| ayer, anteayer, anoche | pretérito |
| el lunes pasado, el verano pasado, etc. | pretérito |
| a specific number of times | pretérito |
| a specific length of time | pretérito |
| un día, una noche | pretérito |
| de repente (suddenly) | pretérito |
| a specific date | pretérito |
| moves the plot along | pretérito |
| provides background | imperfecto |
| more important | pretérito |
| less important | imperfecto |
| conocer - knew | imperfecto |
| conocer - met for the first time | pretérito |
| poder - was able | imperfecto |
| poder - managed to | pretérito |
| querer - wanted | imperfecto |
| querer - tried | pretérito |
| no quería - did not want | imperfecto |
| no querer - refused | pretérito |
| a menudo (often) | imperfecto |
| no poder - failed to | pretérito |
| no poder - couldn't | imperfecto |
