6.6: El pretérito e imperfecto I

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Erica Brown, Alejandra Escudero, María Cristina Montoya, & Elizabeth Small
SUNY Oneonta via OER SUNY

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Objetivos

Identify uses of the imperfect for description and the preterite for narration of past events

Imperfect for description	Preterit for narration
As you learned in Unidad 10, the imperfect is used to express: repeated, habitual, or usual actions in the past describe actions that were ongoing in the past describe what things were like in the past (like “used to”) Along these same lines, the imperfect is used to describe conditions of time, people and places in the past. The imperfect gives all the background information for when you are explaining a story. The order of events with the imperfect is often unimportant. Ejemplos: Cuando vivía en Barranquilla… Había un festejo. Él era guapo con pelo largo.	If the order of events is important to advance a past narration, use the preterit. The preterit focuses on what actions happened first and last in a story. Ejemplos: Cuando llegué a la casa, inmediatamente me fijé en su amigo. De repente, la música sonó y todos buscaron parejas para bailar. When telling a story, the preterit is used to facilitate the events. This shows that one action was completed before the next one began. You can use time expressions to indicate the order of events such as: primero (first), antes (before), después (after), luego (then), entonces (then). Ejemplos: Primero llegué a la casa. Después conocí a Ladislao. Luego bailamos.

Imperfect for description

Preterit for narration

As you learned in Unidad 10, the imperfect is used to express:

repeated, habitual, or usual actions in the past
describe actions that were ongoing in the past
describe what things were like in the past (like “used to”)

Along these same lines, the imperfect is used to describe conditions of time, people and places in the past. The imperfect gives all the background information for when you are explaining a story. The order of events with the imperfect is often unimportant.

Ejemplos:

Cuando vivía en Barranquilla…
Había un festejo.
Él era guapo con pelo largo.

If the order of events is important to advance a past narration, use the preterit.

The preterit focuses on what actions happened first and last in a story.

Ejemplos:

Cuando llegué a la casa, inmediatamente me fijé en su amigo.
De repente, la música sonó y todos buscaron parejas para bailar.

When telling a story, the preterit is used to facilitate the events. This shows that one action was completed before the next one began. You can use time expressions to indicate the order of events such as: primero (first), antes (before), después (after), luego (then), entonces (then).

Ejemplos:

Primero llegué a la casa.
Después conocí a Ladislao.
Luego bailamos.

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