Español III Capítulo 5A

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NO LATER THAN THIS THURSDAY AM!22 January 2015Realidades 5A¡El Imperfecto!

Review of the Imperfect Tense and the Preterite Tense!Good for preparing for the final exam!Realidades 2Lección Preliminar Repasos del Imperfecto y Vocabulary

Using the Pre terite AND the Imperfect Tense

The Imperfect Tense and The Preterite Tense are both ways to talk about actions that happened in the past. Learning when to use which is one of the more frustrating things a Spanish student has to do because we just don't think the same way in English. We have only one past tense conjugation

I went fishing.

What's the time frame of this action? Clearly the fishing took place in the past. However, we don't know anything more about the situation than that, do we? For example: did the fishing occur once or many times?To get across to the reader or listener important information such as when or how often this event occurred we have to add some extra information:

I went fishing yesterday.

I went fishing every morning at sunrise.

In the first sentence we know not only when this action happened but that it only happened once. In the second we know this event happened repeatedly.Most of the decision to use either the preterite or the imperfect boils down to the difference in the two example sentences above. In Spanish, information as to whether the event happened once or went on for awhile is "built-in" to the conjugation you choose.Let's start with the imperfect...

When to Use the Imperfect TenseNote: For this lesson imperfect conjugations will be indicated like this: imperfect conjugation

Repeated, Usual, Habitual Actions

We mainly use the imperfect tense when talking about repeated, usual, or habitual actions in the past:

Los sábados yo jugaba con mi vecino.

On Saturdays I played with my neighbor.

Usualmente él llegaba temprano.

He usually arrived early.

Mi madre siempre me preparaba desayuno.

My mother would always prepare breakfast for me.

In the first example we use the imperfect jugaba (rather than the preterite jugué) because we see this happened repeatedly, over the course of many Saturdays. In the second we use the imperfect llegaba (rather than the preterite llegó) because we know from the context that this was a usual activity. And in the third we use preparaba (rather than preparó) because this was a habitual action that happened often.Words such as "always," "frequently," "generally," "never," "often," "usually" "used to" and "would" clue us into the fact that we should use the imperfect.

Background Information

We use the imperfect to describe the setting or provide background information such as what people, places, or conditions were like at some unspecified time in the past:

La ciudad era vieja y sucia.

The city was old and dirty.

La sirenita se llamaba Ariel y tenía seis hermanas.

The little mermaid was named Ariel and she had six sisters.

Times and Ages

We also use the imperfect to state the time and people's ages in the past:

Isabel tenía ocho años.

Isabel was eight years old.

Era la una de la mañana.

It was one in the morning.

Ongoing Actions

See also:

The Imperfect Progressive

Additionally, use the imperfect to describe actions that were ongoing or in progress in the unspecified past. This is roughly equivalent to using the imperfect progressive. In these sentences, when the action began or ended is unimportant, it just happened to be occurring at that moment:

Rosa hacía su tarea a las 9:00.

Rosa was doing her homework at 9:00.

Yo dibujaba durante la clase de arte.

I was drawing during art class.

Translating the Imperfect

Because in English we only have one past tense conjugation, we often have to resort to adding additional words to get our exact meaning across. Consider these sentences. All three could be translated the same way in Spanish (and vice versa):

I walked on Sundays.

I would walk on Sundays.

I used to walk on

Sundays.

↔ Yo caminaba los domingos.

When to Use the Preterite TenseNote: For this lesson preterite conjugations will be indicated like this: preterite conjugation

Single, Completed Actions

If the imperfect is primarily used to describe actions that happened over and over again, what is the preterite used for? You're right! To talk about single, completed actions that took place at specific points in time:

El sábado yo jugué con mi vecino.

On Saturday I played with my neighbor.

Ayer él llegó temprano.

Yesterday he arrived early.

Mi madre me preparó desayuno esta mañana.

My mother prepared breakfast for me this morning.

Since the actions referred to in these examples are one-time events, we choose the preterite. In the first case we use the preterite jugué (instead of jugaba) because the playing we're referring to only occurred once, on Saturday. Likewise, in the second case we choose the preterite llegó (instead of llegaba) because we're referring to one arrival, yesterday. And lastly, mother prepared breakfast once, this morning.

Time cues such as a specific season, month, day, or time of day indicate that we should be using the preterite.What if…?

What if you have both a repeated action and a definite timeframe? Use the preterite when a completed action is repeated a specific number of times. For example:

Fui al aeropuerto tres veces ayer.

I went to the airport three times yesterday.

What if there isn't a definite timeframe in the sentence, but it's implied by context? A preterite sentence doesn't necessarily have to include a time reference (as in the second sentence below):

Ayer hice mi tarea. También miré dos películas.

Yesterday I did my homework. I also watched two movies.

The Imperfect vs. The Preterite

Differences in Meaning

This might be a good time talk about why it's called the "imperfect" tense. It doesn't have anything to do with quality, but rather the idea that the action is "incomplete;" it doesn't have a specific beginning or end. Because we're using the imperfect and not attaching a definite timeframe to these actions, we're indicating that when they began and when (or if) they ended is unknown or unimportant. For example:

Marcos se sentía enfermo.

La plaza estaba decorada para la fiesta.

Esmeralda tenía que regresar a casa.

El tiempo hacía frío.

"Marcos was feeling sick." (We don't know exactly when he started feeling bad or if he's now feeling better.) "The plaza was decorated for the party." (Who knows for how long?) "Esmeralda was supposed to return home." (We're not sure when or

if she did.) "The weather was cold." (When or if the weather changed isn't important.)On the other hand…Let's look at the same examples, this time with preterite conjugations and definite timeframes. Now we are explicitly stating when the action started (or ended), and therefore indicating that the timeframe is important. Because of this we are subtly indicating that a change has occurred:

La semana pasada Marcos se sintió enfermo.

La plaza estuvo decorada por un mes.

Esmeralda tuvo que regresar a casa el martes.

El tiempo hizo frío hace dos días.

"Last week Marcos got sick." (Marcos started feeling sick last week.) "The plaza was decorated for one month." (But it isn't anymore.) "Esmeralda had to return home on Tuesday." (And she did.) The weather was cold two days ago." (But it's much warmer now.)Note: Due to their meanings, some verbs tend to be conjugated in the imperfect tense and some verbs are more naturally preterite. Because the verb soler means "to usually" or "to be in the habit of" it cannot be used in the preterite.Due to the differences in emphasis between a preterite and imperfect conjugation, some verbs will have significant differences in meaning when translated. Hopefully by now these variations will make some sense to you. Notice how the preterite tends to signal a change:

imperfect: preterite:

conocer:Conocía a Ana.

I knew Ana.

Conocí a Ana.

I met Ana.

poder:Podía salir.

I was able to leave.

Pude salir.

I managed to leave.

no poder:No podía terminar.

I was not able to finish.

No pude terminar.

I failed to finish.

querer: Quería hablar. Quise hablar.

I wanted to speak. I tried to speak.

no querer:No quería leer.

I didn't want to read.

No quise leer.

I refused to read.

saber:Sabía el razón.

I knew the reason.

Supe el razón.

I found out the reason.

tener:Tenía guantes.

I had gloves.

Tuve guantes.

I got gloves.

The Imperfect & the Preterite Together

See also:

The Imperfect Progressive

It's not at all uncommon to have both preterite and imperfect conjugations in the same sentence. In fact, it happens a lot. The imperfect (or the imperfect progressive) is used to explain what has happening when a preterite action occurred:

Los perros dormían cuando Carlos entró.

The dogs were sleeping when Carlos entered.

Cuando llegaron a la carretera el tiempo hacía calor.

When they reached the highway the weather was hot.

Yo me caí mientras que estábamos corriendo.

I fell while we were running.

For Visual LearnersIf you're still having trouble with the imperfect and the preterite, sometimes it can be advantageous to imagine a timeline. On the right side is the present (we'll ignore the future for now). Toward the left is the past.

If you know with any certainty when the action happened, you should be able to pinpoint on the timeline (with an arrow) exactly when it happened. For example:

On Saturday his friend went to the baseball game.

On the other hand, if you find it difficult to pin down, you may have to indicate only an indefinite range (with a squiggly line) of the action. For example:

His friend was a good baseball player.

So, what good does this do us? Whenever you would draw an arrow you should use the preterite; whenever you would draw a squiggly line you should use the imperfect. Like this:

El sábado su amigo fue al partido de béisbol.

Su amigo era un buen jugador de béisbol.

One more example:

Esperanza broke her arm when she was a girl.

This sentence has two verbs which will both go on the timeline: "Esperanza broke her arm" and "Esperanza was a girl." One of the verbs was a one-time event, the other was a situation with an indefinite time frame so we'll use both an arrow and a squiggly line.

Therefore:

Esperanza rompió su brazo cuando era niña.

Imperfect vs. Preterite: A Final Note

One of the reasons learning when to use the preterite or the imperfect is so difficult is that it's not an exact science. Sometimes you can switch from one tense to the other without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence. Other times you'll completely change the meaning. There may be times when reading Spanish that you won't be able to tell why the author used the conjugation he or she did because it won't seem to follow any of the rules. Just roll with it. As you get more and more used to reading Spanish you'll be able to pick up on the subtle nuances that let you know why a verb is conjugated the way it is.

Al volver al colegio después la vacación

1. Realidades 2 Manos a la obra página 190 Vocabulario y gramática en repaso también se dice...

2. A Primera Vista Vocabulario y gramática en contexto

Página 186 El Mundo - y Más vocabulario

3. Página 187 La guardería infantil Vocabulario

4. AR verbs, Er and Ir verbs REGULAR Realidades 2 página 194 and on this Web Site

5. Irregular verbs in El Imperfecto- SER IR and VER Realidades 2 página 196 and on the website

Indirect Object Pronouns Remember - me te le nos os les

8. Videos from other students using the Imperfect Tense

1. El Imperfect: Part I

In a previous lesson, you learned that the imperfect is used for past actions that are not seen as completed. Use of the imperfect tense implies that the past action did not have a definite beginning or a definite end. You also learned how to conjugate regular -ar verbs. In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate -er and -ir verbs, and become more familiar with the uses of the imperfect.

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:abaabasabaábamosabaisaban

To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following:íaíasíaíamosíaisían

Here are all three regular imperfect verb forms together:hablar comer vivir

hablaba comía vivía

hablabas comías vivías

hablaba comía vivía

hablábamos comíamos vivíamos

hablabais comíais vivíais

hablaban comían vivían

The imperfect is used for actions that were repeated habitually.Almorzábamos juntos todos los días.We would lunch together every day.Las señoras siempre charlaban por las mañanas.The ladies would always chat in the mornings.

The imperfect is used for actions that "set the stage" for another action.Yo leía cuando entró mi papá.I was reading when my papa entered. (note that "entered" is preterite)

The imperfect is used for telling time and stating one's age.Eran las siete de la noche.It was seven o'clock at night.La niña tenía cinco años.The little girl was five years old.

The above examples all fall within our general rule for using the imperfect:

EL IMPERFECTO Part I

The imperfect is used for past actions that are not seen as completed

Something that was happening…

Something that happened often…

Imperfect: regular -er -ía-ías-ía-íamos-íais-íancomía, comías, comía, comíamos, comíais, comíanImperfect: regular -ir -ía-ías-ía-íamos-íais-íanvivía, vivías, vivía, vivíamos, vivíais, vivían

More examples of the Imperfect Tense in Spanish Note that the yo and él forms are identical; if the context leaves ambiguity as to which person was doing the action, be sure to use the pronoun.

Ir, ser, and ver are the only irregular verbs in the imperfecto.

Ir - to goyo iba nosotros íbamos

tú ibas vosotros ibaisél iba ellos iban

Ser - to beyo era nosotros éramos

tú eras vosotros eraisél era ellos eran

Ver - to seeyo veía nosotros veíamos

tú veías vosotros veíais

él veía ellos veían

El pretérito y el imperfecto:

The usage of the preterite and the imperfect is one of the most difficult aspects of Spanish for an English-speaker. Essentially, both the preterite and the imperfect are past tenses, much as the way "he did" and "he was doing" both express past action in English. The deciding factor between the two tenses is a characteristic of verbs not frequently talked about in English: aspect.

Hablar - to talkyo hablaba nosotros hab

lábamos

tú hablabas vosotros hablabais

él hablaba ellos hablabanComer - to eat

yo comía nosotros comíamos

tú comías vosotros comíaisél comía ellos comían

Vivir - to liveyo vivía nosotros vivíamos

tú vivías vosotros vivíaisél vivía ellos vivían

Every action has a beginning, a middle, and an end. When one wishes to focus on the middle of an action, the action is on-going, that is, nothing changes radically (which is not to say that nothing happens). For example, "he was eating" indicates the "middle" of the action of eating in the past. We don't know when he started to eat or when he finished (or even if he finished). We just know that at a certain time in the past, he was in the middle of eating. This focus on the middle of an action is called the imperfective aspect. Not surprisingly, it is associated with the imperfect tense in Spanish, for example:

hablaba I was speaking

viajábamos we used to travel

estaban they were

In each case, there is no notion that the action began or ended, only that at some point it was on-going. Notice, however, that English has three different, common ways to indicate the imperfect: the past progressive ("was speaking") to show that a single action continued, the "used to" construction to show that a series of separate actions continued, and the simple past, used particularly with verbs that show state of mind or body ("was," "thought," etc.) as ongoing in the past.If the imperfect is used to denote the middle of an action, the preterite is used to indicate the beginning or the end of

an action. Sometimes it requires some thought to determine which part of the action is being described. For example, "The telephone rang at 8 last night" sounds like an action that is over and therefore we are describing the end of it. But the point of view is always some point in the past, in this case, at 8 last night. At that time, the telephone began to ring. It wasn't ringing at 7:59, but it very well might have rung until 8:01 or 8:02. When one says, "I shut the door," on the other hand, by the time one says that, the door is already shut; the action has been completed.There are many other ways to describe when one should use the imperfect or the preterite, but all of them are just different ways of describing the aspect of the verb in question. For example, one usually uses the imperfect to describe background (ongoing) actions and states, or something that was going on when another action interrupted. Likewise, the preterite is used to describe a series of discrete actions that occurred in sequence and then were over. Of course, there are always some uses that do not necessarily fit the rule, such as the fact that one always tells time in the imperfect ("era la una"), and there are even some verbs whose meaning (or at least whose translation) changes when one uses one tense or the other. Here are a few examples; note that the standard meaning is the one reflected by the imperfect:Verb Preterite Imperfect

saber supe - "I found out" sabía - "I knew"

conocer conocí - "I met" conocía - "I knew"

querer quise - "I tried" quería - "I wanted"

In short, to express what was happening, What happened many times-often..... use the IMPERFECTO in SpanishMore Review of the Pretérito

El PretéritoThe Preterite tense is used to indicate a completed action in the past. something that was completed-finished in the past

Verbos regulares

-AR

-é

-aste-ó-amos-asteis-aron

Verbos -er e -ir regulares

-í-iste-ió-imos-isteis-ieron

______________________________________

Verbos irregulares

IRREGULAR CASES IN PRETÉRITO

Case I irregular below

DAR

DiDisteDio dimos disteisdieron

VER

ViVisteVioVimosVisteisVieron

Case II irregular

Caer

CaíCaísteCayóCaímosCaísteisCayeron.

OIR

OíOísteOyóOímosOísteisOyeron

CREER

CreíCreísteCreyóCreímosCreísteisCreyeron

LEER

LeíLeísteLeyóLeímosLeísteisleyeron

Case II also has-

All –uir verbs

ConstruirInfluir.....

Construir

ConstruíConstruísteConstruyóConstruímosConstruísteisConstruyeron

Case III SER AND IR

FuiFuisteFueFuimosFuisteisFueron

Ser

FuíFuisteFuéFuimosFuisteisFueron

JOTA group

Case IV

Jota group

All –cir verbs take the “J”

Decir

DijeDijstedijodijimosdijisteisdijeron

TRAER goes with the case IV verbsTrajeTrajiste

TrajoTrajimosTrajisteisTrajeron

Case V “V” group

ESTAR TENER ANDAR

Estar

ESTUVEESTUVISTEESTUVOESTUVIMOSESTUVISTEISESTUVIERONANDAR

ANDUVEANDUVISTEANDUVOANDUVIMOSANDUVISTEISANDUVIERON

TENER

TUVE

TUVISTE

TUVO

TUVIMOS

TUVISTEIS

TUVIERON

Case VI Los independientes

Poner

PusePusistePusoPusimosPusisteisPusieron

Poder

Pude

Pudiste

Pudo Pudimos Pudisteis Pudieron

VenirVineVinisteVinoVinimosVinisteisVinieron

HacerHice

HicisteHizoHicimosHicisteisHicieron

Saber: to know a fact

Not used in conversationIn spoken Spanish it is used to mean “to have found out....!”

Supe Supiste

SupoSupimos Supisteissupieron

knowing is a process

Saber- In order to say that you “knew....something” you must use th eimperfect tense form of the verb

SabíaSabías

SabíaSabíamosSabíaissabían

Yo no sabía la respuesta.

Querer - to want

You can not use the preperite form of the verb QUERER since ¨wanting¨ implies an on going sense of desire......

In conversational Spanish you must use the Imperfect form of the conjugation to indicate “wanting...or wanted”

Preterite form of the verb QUERER

QuiseQuisisteQuisoQuisimosQuisisteisQusieron

In spoken Spanish this means to have refused when the word NO comes before each conjugate.Yo no quise ir. I refused to go.

No qusimos ir de compras.We refused to go shopping.

No quiseNo quisiste

No quisoNi quisimosNo quisisteisNo quisieron

To expres “I wanted, you wanted, he/she wanted....” you must use the imperfect form of the verb querer.

QueríaQueríasQueríaQueríamosQueríaisQuerían

Yo quería estudiar en la biblioteca.I wanted to study in the library.

Dormir

Dormí

Dormiste

Durmió

Dormimos

Dormisteis

Durmieron

PEDIR

Pedí

Pediste

Pidió

Pedimos

Pedisteis

Pidieron

Other e to i stem-changing verbs.....

Servir reir pedir dormir sonrei.........

________________________________________

Case VIII

-Car qué

-Gar GUÉ

-Zar CÉ in the yo form

Tocar

Toqué

Tocaste

Tocó

Tocamos

Tocasteis

tocaron

-GAR verbs

LLEGAR

Llegué

Llegaste

Llegó

Llegamos

Llegasteis

llegaron

-ZAR verbs

Empezar

Empecé

Empezaste

empezó

Empezamos

Empezasteis

Empezaron

Indirect Object Pronouns Again in REVIEW!

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Realidades 4A Study and review all for the final exam!!!!

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