In Spanish, the
preterite tense (el pretérito) is used to describe actions completed at a point in the past. So the Spanish preterite is not used to describe regular or continuous actions in the past with no specific beginning or end. In that case, we use the imperfect. Therefore, we use the preterite to talk about completed actions in the past. So, it is used to talk about beginnings and ends, things that occurred on specific dates or days, at specific times or during specific time periods, and events in a sequence. There are two forms in this verbal tense, namely: <em>Regular Imperfect Forms</em> and <em>Irregular Imperfect Forms.</em>
On the other hand,
the imperfect tense (el imperfecto) is used to describe past habitual actions or to talk about what someone was doing when they were interrupted by something else. In general, the imperfect is used to talk about past actions, conditions, or events that occurred regularly or frequently or that were in progress in a moment in the past. It is also used to tell time, talk about dates, give a person's age, and describe features, conditions, and feelings in the past. As in the preterite tense, there are two forms in this verbal tense, namely: <em>Regular Imperfect Forms</em> and <em>Irregular Imperfect Forms.</em>
The
regular verb forms for both the preterite and the imperfect are given in three ways, that is, for <em>ar,</em> <em>er</em> and<em> ir</em> endings. So the conjugation will depend on the pronoun of the sentence and the verb ending. On the other hand, the
irregular verb forms don't have a defined structure.
1. Los pacientes
esperaban
en la sala de espera.
Imperfect tense
Regular Verb:
Esperar
<em>ar </em>ending
Conjugation: Esperaban (For the third-person
plural)
2. Cuando era
pequeño quería ser enfermero.
Imperfect tense
Regular Verb: Querer
<em>er</em> ending
Conjugation: Quería (For the first-person
singular)
3. Anoche me olvidé
de tomar mis antibióticos.
Preterite tense
Regular Verb: Olvidar
<em>ar</em> ending
Conjugation: Olvidé (For the first-person
singular)
4. Una vez mi
familia y yo tuvimos un accidente de coche.
Preterite tense
Regular Verb: Tener
<em>er</em> ending
Conjugation: Tuvimos (For the first-person
plural)
5. Mientras mi
padre tosía, mi madre dormía profundamente.
Imperfect tense
Regular verb: Toser
and Dormir
<em>ar</em> and <em>ir</em> ending
Conjugation: Tosía and dormía (For the third-person
singular)
6. Todas las
semanas el doctor me hacía una radiografía.
Imperfect tense
Regular verb: Hacer
<em>er </em>ending
Conjugation: Hacía (For the third-person
singular)
7. Cuando era niño,
todo el tiempo me enfermaba
Imperfect tense
Regular verb: Enfermar
<em>ar</em> ending
Conjugation: Enfermaba (For the first-person
singular)
8. Mis padres me llevaban
al consultorio
Imperfect tense
Regular verb: Llevar
<em>ar</em> ending
Conjugation: Llevaban (For the third-person
plural)
9. pero nunca era
nada grave.
Imperfect tense
Irregular verb: Ser
Conjugation: Era
10. Una vez,
mientras jugaba en el patio de la escuela yo me caí
Imperfect tense
Regular verb: Jugar
<em>ar</em> ending
Conjugation: Jugaba (For the first-person
singular)
11. y me rompí un
brazo.
Preterite tense
Regular verb: Romper
<em>er</em> ending
Conjugation: Rompí (For the first-person
singular)
12. Mi madre tuvo
que llevarme rápidamente a la sala de emergencia porque me dolía mucho.
Preterite tense
Regular verb: Tener
<em>er </em>ending
Conjugation: Tuvo (For the third-person
singular)
