How to Tell the Difference Between the Imperfect vs. Preterit in Spanish

There is a world of difference between two tenses in Spanish: the Imperfect vs. the Preterit.First of all, one has to understand that one is a completed past action=better known as the Preterit. The one with an on-going action in the past=is better know as the Imperfect.To give you a better perspective suppose we provide some English verb forms in the past: "I threw the ball".

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A complete awareness that there is a huge difference between these two past tenses.
• Note that both have a prescribed meaning: the Preterit is a completed past action and the Imperfect is an on-going past action
• Each tense has a prescribed set of endings depending on the tense and whether it is an -AR, -ER, and -IR.

How to Tell the Difference Between the Imperfect and Preterit in Spanish

1. First of all, know what it is you wish to say in the past tense, whether you want a completed action in the past or whether you want to describe an action or weather status going on in the past.

2. Line up your verbs in -AR, -ER, or -IR and determine the past action as in the first step. If you wish to say : " I spoke in Spanish" or: " I was speaking Spanish", or: "I used to speak Spanish"

3. In the case of : " I spoke Spanish", know that HABLAR is an -AR verb, its conjugation goes: hable', hablaste, hablo', hablamos,hablaron.
   
   In the case of: " I was speaking Spanish", again taking the -AR verb, HABLAR, its conjugation now goes: hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, habla'mos, hablaban. Big difference between -AR verbs for both tenses.

4. In the case of certain verbs already mentioned as in -ER and -IR verbs as in TENER(to hold), Preterit forms conjugate(note the irregular forms): tuve(irregular here), tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvieron--endings reflect -e, -iste,-o, -imos, -ieron. For Imperfect forms: teni'a,
   teni'as, teni'a, teni'amos, teni'an, with the translations "would", -ing ending, 'used to".

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the two verb tenses straight, both what you want to say in the past, plus attaching the prescribed set of endings. Know when the tense is a completed past action, versus an action going on in the past or whether you are describing an event or the weather going on in the past.
• This is not a relaxed, lackadaisical approach to learning the two past tenses in Spanish. In fact, if you miss the point, what you say or write will result in huge errors. Take the time to look these endings and tenses up and know which tense you wish to use. At least you will be a far cry from saying or writing everything in the present tense.