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How do I know when to use the imperfect? | ||
Tags: Verbs/Conjugation | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Enespanol1 Newbie United States Joined 5507 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 5 05 November 2009 at 3:56pm | IP Logged |
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I'm having a little trouble with the past tense and imperfect tense in Spanish. i'm okay with the preterite, but it's the imperfect that I'm getting confused about. Can anyone help with this problem?
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| rggg Heptaglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6331 days ago 373 posts - 426 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Malay Studies: Romanian, Catalan, Greek, German, Swedish | Message 2 of 5 05 November 2009 at 7:33pm | IP Logged |
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"El imperfecto" or "Copretérito" (as I called it in school) refers to an action performed in the past, but as oppossed to the preterite the action was not completed or the action did not have a definite beginning or a definite end.
You have to use this tense when: *The action is indefinite or not completed *The action was continuous or repeated, *The action took place over a period of time *The action started in the past and continues into the present when other action occurs. or *For telling time (in the past) Some examples (with no order): Cuando era niño, jugaba todo el día Recuerdo que iba al parque cada mañana Comía galletas siempre que visitaba a mi abuela Todos los años visitábamos a mis abuelos cuando ellos vivían en los Estados Unidos Eran las 5 de la mañana cuando llegó Veía la televisión, cuando de pronto escuché un ruido Estaba comiendo cuando sonó el teléfono In English, the "copretérito" corresponds more or less to the past continuous tense, the "used to" and in some cases with "would": When I was a kid, I used to play all day long she would go for a walk every morning I was eating when I heard something. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Enespanol1 Newbie United States Joined 5507 days ago 3 posts - 4 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 5 06 November 2009 at 12:40am | IP Logged |
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okay, thanks!
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| Michael K. Senior Member United States Joined 5735 days ago 568 posts - 886 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 4 of 5 06 November 2009 at 3:28am | IP Logged |
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Thanks, rggg.
That's always a problem for me too. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| darkwhispersdal Senior Member Wales Joined 6046 days ago 294 posts - 363 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 5 of 5 06 November 2009 at 9:45pm | IP Logged |
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same here thats very helpful
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