13.11: Pretérito e imperfecto IV

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Objetivos

Integrate the various uses of preterit and imperfect in complete narrations

Now that we have come to the end of the unit on the differences between preterit and imperfect, let’s combine our knowledge and review how the two tenses are used to create complete narrations:

When to use the imperfect:	When to use the preterit:
Circumstance, description, setting Telling what the day/date was Telling what time it was Telling someone’s age Emotional/mental conditions (thinking, wishing, wanting) Habitual, repeated, ongoing past action Simultaneous actions (e.g. “I was reading while you were sleeping.”)	Sudden or completed action Single event at a specific time (e.g. “left at 7 pm”) Happened a specific number of times For a specific amount of time Consecutive past actions Action that interrupts something Onset of a condition
Key words for the imperfect:	Key words for the preterit:
Muchas veces Mucho A menudo Siempre Todos los días Usualmente Mientras Cada noche Nunca Cada verano Los martes, los veranos A veces	Ayer, anteayer El viernes, el lunes pasado… Anoche El mes pasado El año pasado Una vez, dos veces Esta mañana Al mediodía A las siete La semana pasada El 8 de marzo…

Understanding the subtle differences between these two tenses will help you understand that non-action verbs change meaning when used in the imperfect or the preterit.

Non-action verb	imperfect	preterit
conocer	was acquainted with	met (for the first time)
saber	knew (about things/facts)	discovered, came to know
haber	there was/were (background information)	there was/were (incident)
poder	was able to (situational: had ability)	accomplished (demonstrated ability)
no poder	was not able to (situational: did not have ability)	did not accomplish (demonstrated lack of ability)
querer	wanted (situational: had desire)	attempted to (demonstrated desire)
no querer	didn’t want (situational: had no desire)	declined to (demonstrated lack of desire)
hacer (in weather expressions)	was (background description)	became or was (onset of weather condition, or condition lasting for a specific amount of time)

Ejemplos:

Hacía más frío durante los inviernos cuando yo era joven. En las celebraciones navideñas del 2015 hizo tanto calor en Nueva York que todos llevábamos pantalones cortos. (It was colder in the winter when I was young. And in Christmas of 2015 it was so hot out in New York that we were all wearing shorts.)
La niña pequeña quería asistir a la fiesta de quince años de su prima, pero cuando empezó la música se sintió cohibida y no quiso salir a bailar. (The little girl wanted to attend her cousin’s quinceañera party, but when the music started she felt shy and declined to get out and dance.)