Spanish A2: pretérito vs imperfecto — the photo and the film
Spanish has two past tenses and they are not interchangeable. One takes a photograph of a completed event; the other films the background it happened against.
Two past tenses, and the difference is not when. It is what kind of past you are describing.
Comí a las dos. → I ate at two. (One event. Done.) Comía a las dos. → I used to eat at two. (A habit. Background.)
The useful image: the pretérito is a photograph, the imperfecto is the film running behind it.
Something happened, it finished, and you are treating it as a single point.
| -ar (hablar) | -er/-ir (comer) | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí |
| tú | hablaste | comiste |
| él/ella | habló | comió |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos |
| ellos | hablaron | comieron |
Llegué a las ocho. Abrí la puerta. Vi el desastre.
Three photographs, in order. That sequence — one thing then the next — is what the pretérito is for.
Ongoing, habitual, or descriptive. No endpoint in view.
| -ar (hablar) | -er/-ir (comer) | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaba | comía |
| tú | hablabas | comías |
| él/ella | hablaba | comía |
| nosotros | hablábamos | comíamos |
| ellos | hablaban | comían |
Only three verbs are irregular: ser (era), ir (iba), ver (veía). That is the whole list.
Four jobs:
- Habits — Todos los veranos íbamos a la playa.
- Description — La casa era grande y tenía un jardín.
- Ongoing action — Mientras llovía, leí un libro.
- Age, time, feelings — Tenía doce años. Eran las tres.
This is where it becomes one skill instead of two tenses. The imperfecto sets the scene; the pretérito interrupts it.
Caminaba por la calle cuando vi a Marta. I was walking down the street when I saw Marta.
The walking is the film. Seeing Marta is the photograph. Swap them and the sentence stops making sense:
✗ Caminé por la calle cuando veía a Marta.
A useful pair of markers:
| Imperfecto | Pretérito |
|---|---|
| siempre, normalmente | ayer, anoche |
| todos los días | una vez, dos veces |
| mientras | de repente |
| cuando era niño | el año pasado |
Four verbs mean something different in each tense. This catches every A2 learner.
| Verb | Imperfecto | Pretérito |
|---|---|---|
| saber | knew | found out |
| conocer | knew (a person) | met |
| querer | wanted | tried (or, negative: refused) |
| poder | was able to | managed to |
Sabía la verdad. → I knew the truth. Supe la verdad. → I found out the truth.
Conocía a Ana. → I knew Ana. Conocí a Ana. → I met Ana.
No quería ir. → I didn't want to go. No quise ir. → I refused to go.
The logic holds: the imperfecto is the ongoing state, the pretérito is the moment it started or completed.
Did it happen, or was it happening?
- Ayer ___ a las seis. (one event) → me levanté
- Cuando era niño ___ a las seis. (habit) → me levantaba
- ___ cuando sonó el teléfono. (background) → dormía
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