VERBOS CON SIGNIFICADOS DIFERENTES EN EL PRETÉRITO Y EN IMPERFECTO.
The following verbs take on a different meaning in the preterite from the meaning you learned in the present. For example, conocer is to know, but in the preterite it means to meet someone for the first time.
conocer to meet.
Meeting someone for the first timeEllos se conocieron en San Juan.
They met in San Juan.to know.
Knowing someone from before.Ella ya conocía a tus padres.
She already knew your parents.poder to be able to do something and actually doing it
Por fin pude ir al cine.
At last I was able to go to the movies.could; to be able to do something but not necessarily doing it
Ellos podían ir, pero no fueron.
They could go, but didn't.querer to want to do something and actually doing it
Pepe quiso estudiar contigo.
Pepe wanted to study with you (and he did).to want to do something but not necessarily doing it
Rita quería caminar por el parque.
Rita wanted to walk around the park (maybe she did, maybe she did not).saber to find out information (not known before)
Ayer supe su nombre, tú me lo dijiste: ¡gracias!
I found out his name yesterday. You told me his name: thanks!
to know (or not know) information from before
Yo no sabía su nombre, pero tú sí lo sabías: ¡gracias!
I didn't know his name (until yesterday), but you knew his name (and you told me): thanks!tener to have, to possess, to get at a specific moment in the past
Tuve un perro. / Tú tuviste un accidente.
I had a dog. / You had an accident.to used to have, once upon a time
De niña, yo tenía un perro. / Tú tenías accidentes a menudo.
As a child, I used to have a dog. / You used to have accidents often.tener que to have to do something and doing it
Ayer tuvieron que quedarse en la casa.
Yesterday they had to stay home.
(they indeed stayed at home)to have to do something but not necessarily doing it
Tenían que limpiar la casa.
They had to clean the kitchen.
(maybe they cleaned it or maybe they did not)
¿Pretérito o imperfecto?
Conjugate the verb in parenthesis either in the preterite or the imperfect, according to the context.
¡A PRACTICAR! Choose the appropriate verb from the list below and conjugate it in the correct tense according to the context. You may use a verb more than once.
dar / darse / estar / hablar / ser / tener / ver
¡A PRACTICAR! Choose between preterite and imperfect.