El Pret

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El Pretérito e El Imperfecto
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Repaso El Pretérito

• El preterito is a past tense, used for actions
  that are viewed as completed.
• Regular Preterit Verb Endings

-AR Verbs -AR Verbs
-é -amos
-aste -asteis
-ó -aron
-ER/-IR Verbs -ER/-IR Verbs
-í -imos
-iste -isteis
-ió -ieron
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Uses of El Pretérito

• The preterite is used in these situations
• For actions that can be viewed as single events
• For actions that were repeated a specific number
  of times
• For actions that occurred during a specific
  period of time
• For actions that were part of a chain of events
• To state the beginning or the end of an action

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Expressions that signal the use of the preterite
(CONTEXT CLUES)

• Ayer
• Anteayer
• Anoche
• Desde el primer momento
• Durante dos siglos
• El otro día
• En ese momento
• Entonces

• Yesterday
• The day before yesterday
• Last night
• From the first moment
• For two centuries
• The other day
• At that moment
• Then

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MORE CONTEXT CLUES

• Esta mañana
• Esta tarde
• La semana pasada
• El mes pasado
• El año pasado
• Hace dos dias, años
• Ayer por la mañana
• Ayer por la tarde

• This morning
• This afternoon
• Last week
• Last month
• Last year
• Two days, years ago
• Yesterday morning
• Yesterday afternoon

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Repaso El Imperfecto

• El imperfecto is used for actions in the past
  that are not viewed as completed. Use of the
  imperfect tense implies that the past action did
  not have a definite beginning or end

-AR verbs -AR verbs
-aba -ábamos
-abas -abais
-aba -aban
-ER/-IR Verbs -ER/-IR Verbs
-ía -íamos
-ías -íais
-ía -ían
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Uses of El Imperfecto

• The imperfect is used in these situations
• For actions that were repeated habitually
• For actions that set the stage for another past
  action
• For telling time
• For stating ones age
• For mental states (usually)
• For physical sensations (usually)
• To describe the characteristics of people,
  things, or conditions

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Expressions that signal the use of the imperfect
(CONTEXT CLUES)

• A menudo
• A veces
• Cada día
• Cada semana
• Cada mes
• Cada año
• Con frecuencia
• De vez en cuando
• En aquella epoca
• Frecuentemente
• Generalmente

• Often
• Sometimes
• Every day
• Every week
• Every month
• Every year
• Frequently
• From time to time
• At that time
• Frequently
• Usually

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More CONTEXT CLUES

• Muchas veces
• Mucho
• Nunca
• Por un rato
• Siempre
• Tantas veces
• Todas las semanas
• Todos los días
• Todo el tiempo
• Varias veces

• Many times
• A lot
• Never
• For a while
• Always
• So many times
• Every week
• Every day
• All the time
• Various times

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Unos verbos especiales

• Some verbs actually change their meaning
  depending upon whether they are used in the
  preterite or the imperfect!

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Conocer

• Preterito - met
• Conocí a Juan hace cinco años.
• I met Juan five years ago.

• Imperfecto used to know
• En aquella epoca conocíamos muy bien la ciudad.
• At that time we knew the city very well.

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Querer

• Preterito - tried
• Maria quiso comprar la casa.
• Maria tried to buy the house.

• Imperfecto - wanted
• Juan quería comprar la casa.
• Juan wanted to buy the house.

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No querer

• Preterito - refused
• Maria no quiso comprar la casa.
• Maria refused to buy the house.

• Imperfecto did not want
• Juan no quería comprar la casa.
• Juan did not want to buy the house.

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Saber

• Preterito found out
• Maria lo supo ayer.
• Maria found out yesterday.

• Imperfecto used to know
• Juan sabía que Maria venía a la fiesta.
• Juan knew that Maria was coming to the party.

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Poder

• Preterito - succeeded
• Maria pudo levantar la mesa.
• Maria succeeded in lifting the table.

• Imperfecto was able
• Juan podía participar en la manifestación.
• Juan was able to participate in the
  demonstration.

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Tener

• Preterito- received
• Maria tuvo una carta de su mama.
• Maria received a letter from her mom.

• Imperfecto used to have
• Juan tenía un coche nuevo.
• Juan used to have a new car.