Preterite Vs Imperfect (Advice Center) Language Learning Forum

Preterite Vs Imperfect
Tags: Verbs/Conjugation \| Spanish
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19 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

Javi
Diglot
Senior Member
Spain
Joined 750 days ago
282 posts - 23 votes
Speaks: Spanish*, English

Message 17 of 19

08 December 2008 at 1:22pm | IP Logged

ellasevia wrote:

In my Spanish class, my teacher gave us the following mnemonic device to remember when to use the imperfect:

Descriptions
Emotions
Age
Time (no reference of)
Habitual Actions
Continuous Actions
Ongoing Actions
Weather

(Notice how it spells "DEATHCOW")

In the preterite, "saber" meant to have found out and in the imperfect it means to have known:
Supe que habrá una fiesta mañana. = I found out that there will be a party tomorrow.
Ya lo sabía. = I already knew that.

You'd better learn through examples rather than rules, and some of those are useless anyway. You cannot sit down to write an essay or an e-mail and start thinking of rules, even less if you have to speak.

TheBiscuit
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Mexico
Joined 692 days ago
528 posts - 55 votes

Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian
Studies: German, Croatian

Message 18 of 19

08 December 2008 at 5:48pm | IP Logged

Listening to how native speakers use it is a good way to get to grips with this tense. I sometimes still think of MT's, 'line in the past, broken line in the past versus the dot past' explanation.

Definitely use it to express used to/would past and anything that implies 'before' refering to a period when things were different than they are now or an elongated time period in the past.

Here in Mexico I've only really heard supe used to mean I found out or more commonly the verb enterarse (not to be confused with enterrarse!) and sabía for everything else.

Something worth studying in great detail is the difference between ser and estar - books have been written on the subject!

DaraghM
Pro Member
Ireland
Joined 920 days ago
1249 posts - 58 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Danish, French
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Message 19 of 19

11 December 2008 at 8:57am | IP Logged

ellasevia wrote:

In my Spanish class, my teacher gave us the following mnemonic device to remember when to use the imperfect:

.
Weather

I wouldn't use this mnemonic as the pretérito is also used for weather expressions.

"Hizo sol."

Also, some recurring actions use the pretérito. E.g.

"El hombre la miró un par de veces."

Edited by DaraghM on 11 December 2008 at 9:07am

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