Is Weather Preterite Or Imperfect

Trying to determine when to use the Preterite and when to apply the Imperfect is one of the challenges of learning these two tenses. Review the uses of the Imperfect and the Preterite, and make a chart for yourself listing the differences.

The Imperfect past tense is used to describe a scene while the Preterite is used to listing series of completed actions. It can be a little more than subtle, especially with verbs that modify meaning depending on the tense.

You volition utilise the Imperfect

When you lot "set a scene" describing what your firm or dog used to wait like and what your family unit was like. Recollect of looking at a photograph and describing the people in it and what they were doing. Since the photograph is static, the people in it can't start doing something different. So y'all can simply describe the scene y'all see.
When you are describing what people were doing (in the process of doing) or used to do or when you lot describe what information technology was similar when you arrived at the party last nighttime.

Nonetheless , the stories that occur within these settings happen in the Preterite! (which we will look at after our example.)

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For instance, permit's gear up a scene:

Eran las nueve de la noche. Era viernes. Hacía mal tiempo. Llovía. Todos estábamos en casa. Mamá y Papá miraban la televisión; yo leía una novela de StarTrek; mi hermana hablaba por teléfono con su novio en su cuarto. Esnupi (nuestro perro) dormía detrás del sillón en la sala.
It was 9:00 at night. It was Friday. It was bad weather. It was raining. We were all at habitation. Mom and Dad were watching television receiver; I was reading a StarTrek novel; my sister was talking on the phone with her boyfriend in her room. Esnupi (our dog) was sleeping behind the armchair in the living room.

This has all been written in the Imperfect.

Just now let'due south get to the action:

De repente, ¡Entró united nations ladrón! Pasó por la escalera y caminó hasta la recámara de mis padres. Miró en el cuarto cuando oyó la voz de mi hermana. Se volvió y bajó las escaleras. Trató de huir de la casa, pero Esnupi se despertó y mordió la pierna del ladrón.
Suddenly, a robber entered! He went upstairs and walked down to my parent'due south bedroom. He looked in the room but so he heard my sister's vocalization. He turned and went down the stairs. He tried to abscond the firm, but Esnupi woke up and bit the robber's leg.

This is a series of deportment in the Preterite which happened within the setting established past the Imperfect.

The focus of the Preterite is on completed action(s). The Imperfect focuses on a state of beingness.

Permit's await at some examples:

Preterite (completed action)	Imperfect (description, scene)
Comí la cena.	Comía la cena...
I ate my dinner (and I finished it)	I was eating my dinner...[when something happened] -or- I used to swallow my dinner...
Tuvo que devolver la camisa	Tenía que devolver la camisa
She had to -and did- return the shirt.	She had to return the shirt (She was supposed to return it - only we don't know if she did or not.)

Some verbs take different meanings in the Imperfect and Preterite forms:

	Preterite (completed action)	Imperfect (description, scene)
Conocer	to take met someone	to have known someone
Saber	to take found out something	to have known something
Querer	tried	wanted
No Querer	refused	didn't want
Poder	managed to (suceeded)	was able to (capable of)
No Poder	failed to	wasn't able to (not capable)

Examples of how these verbs change in significant:

Preterite (completed action)	Imperfect (description, scene)
Quise hacerlo pero no pude.	Quería ir a la playa cada fin de semana. Y por no trabajar los fines de semana, podía ir frecuentemente.
I tried to do it but I failed (to do it)	I wanted to go to the beach every weekend. And because I didn't piece of work weekends, I was able to go frequently.
*La conocí el año pasado.*	*Nos conocíamos por tres meses antes de casarnos.*
I met her final twelvemonth.	We knew each other for three months before marrying.