Preterite and Imperfect

My favorite subject! Think of a play or movie - the scenery/background is the imperfect tense and the action is the preterite tense. For the Spanish speaker, the preterite tense signifies that the action is complete. The imperfect, however, can be habitual action ("used to.."), ongoing action ("while we were eating"), time, age, emotions..background. Watch for words like "ayer" or "la semana pasada" that signify a particular time frame and the preterite tense; words like "todos los días" or "de vez en cuando" indicate habitual action and the imperfect; "mientras" (while) also often will set up the imperfect. Don't let the endings confuse you either! For extra help, check out soem of the other activities and quizzes on other parts of my profile.

	First name Last name