A2
Which past tense
How Spanish chooses between the preterite and the imperfect, and the verbs whose meaning changes with the tense.
Both are past tenses and both are correct. The choice is about how you are looking at the event.
Veía la tele cuando llegó.
I-watched the TV when he-arrived
I was watching TV when he arrived.
The watching is the background; the arriving is the event that lands in it.
The two questions
Preterite — did it happen once and finish? Does it move the story forward?
Imperfect — was it going on, repeated, or simply how things were?
De niño jugaba al fútbol.
of child I-played at-the football
As a child I used to play football.
Ayer jugué al fútbol.
yesterday I-played at-the football
Yesterday I played football.
Same verb, same English word played, two different tenses.
Words that lean each way
| imperfect | preterite |
|---|---|
| siempre, a menudo | de repente, una vez |
| todos los días | ayer, anoche |
| mientras | cuando |
These are hints, not rules.
Some verbs change meaning
With states of mind the difference becomes lexical, and this is where the choice stops being a matter of taste.
| imperfect | preterite | |
|---|---|---|
| saber | knew | found out |
| conocer | knew (a person) | met |
| querer | wanted | tried to |
| no querer | didn’t want | refused |
| poder | was able to | managed to |
| tener | had | got, received |
La conocí en Madrid.
her I-met in Madrid
I met her in Madrid.
La conocía desde hacía años.
her I-knew since it-made years
I’d known her for years.
No sabía que estabas aquí, y ayer lo sabía.
No sabía que estabas aquí, y ayer lo supe.
Finding out is an event, so it takes the preterite. Knowing is a state, so it takes the imperfect. One verb, two tenses, two different English words.
Both in one sentence is normal
Spanish narrative moves between them constantly — the imperfect paints the scene, the preterite advances it. Reading a paragraph of a novel with this in mind teaches it faster than any rule.