What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect?
The preterite and the imperfect are both ways to talk about the past in Spanish, but they do different jobs. The preterite is for completed actions that happened once or had a clear beginning and end. The imperfect is for ongoing actions, descriptions, and habits in the past with no clear end.
Think of the preterite as a snapshot taken with a camera. It shows a single, finished event. Think of the imperfect as a video recording. It sets the scene, shows what was happening in the background, or describes how things used to be.
What they are and when to use them
The preterite tells us what happened. You use it for actions that interrupt another action, events in a sequence, or things that happened a specific number of times. For example, 'Ayer comí pizza' (Yesterday I ate pizza). The imperfect tells us what was happening or how things were. You use it for age, weather, time, emotions, and habitual actions in the past. For example, 'Cuando era niño, comía mucha pizza' (When I was a child, I used to eat a lot of pizza).
How to recognize them
Look for trigger words. Preterite triggers are specific points in time: ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), de repente (suddenly), and un día (one day). Imperfect triggers are less specific and imply repetition: siempre (always), a menudo (often), todos los días (every day), and mientras (while).
Where students slip up
The biggest trap is when both tenses are used in the same sentence. Usually, the imperfect sets the scene or describes an ongoing action, and the preterite interrupts it. For example, 'Estudiaba (imperfect) cuando sonó (preterite) el teléfono' (I was studying when the phone rang). Students often try to use the same tense for both, but the contrast is what makes the sentence make sense.
Worked through
Choose the correct tense (preterite or imperfect) for each verb in parentheses: 'Ayer, nosotros (caminar) por el parque cuando de repente (empezar) a llover.'
- caminábamos (imperfect). 2. empezó (preterite).
Here is why: 'caminar por el parque' is the ongoing background action. It sets the scene like a video, so we use the imperfect (caminábamos). 'empezar a llover' is a sudden event that interrupts our walk. It is a snapshot of a specific moment, signaled by the trigger phrase 'de repente' (suddenly), so we use the preterite (empezó).
Questions students ask
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Where this comes from: OpenStax Spanish I · Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
See also