REPASO GRAMATICAL
[PRETERITO]
[IMPERFECTO]
[PRETERITO e IMPERFECTO]
[mini/micro CUENTOS]
[TRABALENGUAS] Tongue Twisters
GRAMMAR REVIEW
The following outline is meant as a review of the basic aspects, characteristics, and differences of the preterite and the imperfect tenses. The outline includes links that will take you to a more detailed explanation of the grammar structure being addressed. In addition, each link offers examples and practice exercises. Please take a good look at the outline before opening the individual links.
EL PRETÉRITO
*REGULAR verbs -ar / -er / -ir
*-ar verbs have an accent ONLY in yo and él/ella/usted.
*-er / -ir verbs have the same conjugation.There are MANY IRREGULAR verbs in the preterite. However, there is logic in their irregularities. As you get acquainted with the basic rules and memorize the different conjugations you will see how everything makes sense…
First group: the verbs in this group have the conjugation of the regular verbs, but there’s an irregular orthography in the stem in some of the persons:
- Verbs with orthographic change in yo: -car, -gar, -zar
- verbs with change i->y in él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes
- verbs with change e->i in the stem in él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes
- verbs with change o->u in the stem in él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes
Second group: -e/-iste/-o/-imos/-isteis/-ieron*. Notice-and remember- the 3rd person plural of these verbs: -ieron*
- OJO: irregular verbs do NOT have accents.
- verbs with -u- in the stem
- verbs with -i- in the stem
- the verb dar
Third group: -e/-iste/-o/-imos/-isteis/-eron*. Notice -and remember- the 3rd person plural of these verbs:-eron*
- OJO: irregular verbs do NOT have accents.
- verbs with -j- in the stem
- verbs ir (a) and ser
Basic uses of the preterite:
- To talk about actions, activities, events, situations, accidents, anything that happened in a specific moment in the past.
El partido de soccer fue muy bueno. The football game was very good.
- To describe actions, activities, events that were completed, that is, there was a beginning and an end.
Los atletas jugaron muy bien. The athletes played very well.
- To talk about or refer to a series of activities, events, etc.
El entrenador habló con los jugadores, les dio consejos y se fue. The coach spoke with the players, gave them advice and left.
- There is a series of verbs that take on a different meaning when used in the preterite: conocer, poder, querer, saber, tener/tener que. Keep these verbs in mind for later on, when we review the preterite and imperfect together.
The following words/phrases add context to the preterite:
ayer / anoche / antes de anoche: Anoche fui al cine con mis amigos. Last night I went to the movies with my friends.
a las dos / tres / cinco… de la tarde: Hablaste con tu madre a las cuatro.You spoke with your mom at four o’clock.
a las ocho / diez… de la noche: Vimos las noticias de las diez de la noche.We saw the ten o’clock news.
a la una de la mañana: La fiesta terminó a la una y media de la mañana. The party ended at half past one in the morning.
un día / una vez: Toño y Mili bailaron una vez. Toño and Mili danced once.
el verano/otoño/invierno pasado; la primavera pasada: Elías estuvo en Madrid el invierno pasado. Elías was in Madrid last winter.
el martes/ el mes / el año pasado: El viernes fuimos al concierto.We went to the concert last Friday.
esta mañana: Hoy me levanté tarde. I woke up late today.
de repente: Tu abuelita empezó a llorar de repente. Your grandma began to cry all of a sudden.
súbitamente: Todos hicieron silencio súbitamente. Suddenly they all became silent.
hace tiempo que + pretérito: Hace tiempo (dos meses, una semana, cinco años) que corrí mi bicicleta. I rode my bicycle a long time ago (two months ago, a week ago, five years ago).
EL IMPERFECTO
*REGULAR verbs -ar / -er / -ir
-ar verbs have accent ONLY in nosotros.
-er / -ir verbs have the same conjugation.
-er / -ir verbs carry accents on all the persons.
Stem-changing verbs do not change in the imperfect.
There are only 3 irregular verbs in the imperfect: ir, ser, ver
Basic uses of the imperfect:
- To talk about habitual activities, common daily routine in the past:
La Mujer se levantaba muy temprano todas las mañanas. The woman got up (would get up) early every/each morning.
- To narrate on-going activities in the past that do not refer to or have a specific starting point or end:
El hombre trabajaba mucho y luego iba en autobús a su casa.The man worked (used to work/would work) a lot and then he would go (he used to go) home by bus.
- To talk about or describe emotional, physical and/or mental conditions or states:
Ella se sentía un poco triste porque Mercedes y Francisco estaban enfermos. Ella adoraba a sus hijos. She felt (was feeling) a little sad because Mercedes and Francisco were sick. She adored her children.
- To talk about or describe the background around which activities, events and the like took place.
En la graduación había mucha gente; hacía buen tiempo; todos los padres estaban muy orgullosos de sus hijos. At graduation, there were lots of people; the weather was nice; parents were very proud of their children.
- To tell time: la hora. Always use SER to talk about the time of the day/night when something happened:
Era la una menos cuarto de la tarde cuando almorzamos. Eran las siete y media de la noche cuando ustedes llegaron. It was four o’clock in the afternoon when we had lunch. It was seven thirty PM when you all arrived.
- To talk about the weather: el tiempo. Use the weather-related Spanish phrases in the imperfect to describe how was weather during an event:
No llovía ni estaba nublado; hacía buen tiempo: hacía sol y fresco: It wasn't raining nor was it cloudy; the weather was good: it was sunny and cool.
- To talk about age:
- la edad(years old): Always use TENER to talk about specific age.
Cuando tú y yo teníamos 20 años, la casa de nuestros vecinos tenía más de 100 años. When you and I were 20 years old, our neighbors' house was over 100 years old.
- la edad(age in general): Always use SER to talk about age in general.
¡Éramos tan jóvenes y su casa era tan vieja!We were so young and their house was so old!
- TENER is used in the imperfect with the following phrases: tener hambre/sueño/miedo/calor/frío, etc.:
Elena tenía hambre; los niños tenían miedo de la oscuridad; nosotros no teníamos calor, teníamos frío. Elena was hungry; the children were afraid of the dark; we were not hot, we were cold.
The following words/phrases add context to the imperfect:
*siempre (always): Siempre estudiábamos en la biblioteca. We always studied (used to study/would study) in the library.
*todos los días / los años / los veranos / todas las mañanas (every/each day, year, summer, morning): Todas las primaveras nos íbamos de viaje. We went traveling (used to travel/would travel) every spring.
*a menudo (often): Diego llamaba a sus tíos por teléfono a menudo. Diego would call his uncles often.
*a veces / muchas veces (sometimes / a lot, many times): A veces me gustaba ir a las discotecas. I liked going to the discotheques sometimes.
*de vez en cuando (from time to time): La Mujer hablaba con sus vecinas de vez en cuando. The woman would talk with her neighbors from time to time.
*con frecuencia / frecuentemente (frequently): Ella veía a sus amigas con frecuencia. She frequently saw her friends.
*por lo general / generalmente (generally): Por lo general, ellos comían en los restaurantes chinos. In general, they ate at the Chinese restaurants.
*de niño(a) / de joven (as a child / as a young wo/man): De niña, Clara iba con sus hermanas al parque. As a girl, Clara would go to the park with her sisters.
- This is where the true challenge lies: putting into practice all you have learned about both tenses; to know when to use which correctly. Before you try to decide which tense to use, it is important that you know the rules for each tense individually. Do not attempt to translate at random from the English: chances are you might end up using the incorrect tense.
- As was mentioned before in the preterite section, there is a series of verbs that take on a different meaning when used in either tense: Now that you have gone over both tenses, take a look at them: conocer, poder, querer, saber, tener/tener que.
Brief anthology of mini/micro CUENTOS
- This link includes extremely short short-stories (cuentos) written in Spanish by some well-known and not so known authors from Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean. I made the selection keeping in mind the preterite and imperfect, thus, giving the readers the opportunity of comparing both tenses in serious, yet easy-to-read, literary texts. Grammar and reading comprehension exercises follow each mini cuento. Enjoy!
Brief selection of TRABALENGUAS Tongue Twisters
- Tongue twisters are not only fun but practical when learning a language, which is why I chose only those written in the preterite / imperfect tenses. Because the main purpose is to get more acquainted with the grammar and because most of the time tongue twisters do not have to make sense, I did not include a glossary of terms, as with the mini cuentos. I recommend you read them out loud and, if possible, memorize a few: it will be fun!
© All Rights Reserved. 2006 Asima F.X. Saad Maura