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Step 1
If you verb describes something that you could give a specific time and date to, it is preterite. Keep in mind, it is not important that you know exactly when this thing happened. What is important is that it is possible to assign an exact time.
Examples:
I ate dinner.
She fell down.
He opened the door. -
Step 2
If your verb indicates something that cannot be given an exact time of occurance, it is imperfect.
Examples:
When I was 15 years old, I used to ride my bike.
I fell down everyday at recess when I was little.
My family ate dinner together all the time when I was growing up. -
Step 3
Think of it as one time past action (preterite) versus on-going past action (imperfect). If something happened over a long period of time or several times than it is imperfect.
Examples:
During the stone age, people learned to use the wheel. (Something that happened over a long period of time).
When I was younger, I used to play with frogs. (Something that happened several times)
If something happened one time or more than once and it says how many than it is preterite.
Examples:
The caveman built a wheel. (Something that happened one time)
I fixed dinner three times this week. (Happened more than once, but there is a specific number of times) -
Step 4
Understanding this concept and applying it are two different things. To be able to use it, you need to practice. I have provided some recources to help you. My favorite website by far for practice is www.conjuguemos.com. Just click "demo" and it will take you to plenty of free practice exercises.
Comments
eac913 said
on 10/23/2009 Interesting. Nice article.
eac913 said
on 10/23/2009 Interesting. Nice article. VQUVKQ
dorigillman said
on 10/23/2009 thanks for the grammar lesson in spanish. it is always so confusing when you are learning another language.