Traducción
Translate into Spanish:
"You drank water."
'Bebiste agua."
Translate and explain why this sentence is preterite or imperfect.
"Yo bailaba."
"I used to dance."
Imperfect tense - Key words "used to".
Conjugate "comprar" in the yo form.
"compré"
Conjugate "hablar" in the ellos/ellas/ustedes form.
"hablaban."
Imperfect is used to describe on-going actions and states of being in the past, e.g. expressing habitual actions or what used to happen.
True!
Translate into Spanish:
"I used to play soccer."
"Yo jugaba fútbol."
Translate and explain why this sentence is preterite or imperfect.
"Fui a una fiesta la semana pasada."
"I went to a party last week."
Preterite tense - Completed event in the past.
Conjugate "comer" in the tú form.
"comiste"
Conjugate "tener" in the yo form.
"tenía."
Imperfect is used for actions that have no definite beginning or end.
True!
Translate into Spanish:
"We went to the movies yesterday."
"Ayer fuimos al cine."
Translate and explain why this sentence is preterite or imperfect.
"Él habló de ti el otro día."
"He talked about you the other day."
Preterite tense - Completed action, trigger phrase: el otro día.
Conjugate "tocar" in the nosotros form.
"tocamos"
Conjugate "mirar" in the tú form.
"mirabas"
Preterite is used to describe actions or events that don't have a specific beginning or end, while imperfect describes completed actions.
False! It's the other way around.
Translate into Spanish:
"They read a book for Spanish class."
"Ellos leyeron un libro para la clase de español."
Translate and explain why this sentence is preterite or imperfect.
"La niña tenía 2 años."
"The girl was 2 years old."
Imperfect tense - Describing past age.
Conjugate "oír" in the él/ella/usted form.
"oyó"
Conjugate "ser" in the ellos/ellas/ustedes form.
"eran"
The verb "estudiar" in the nosotros form uses different endings in the preterite and present tenses.
False! It's the same ending for regular -ar verbs: estudiamos
Translate into Spanish:
"When I was 5 I lived in California."
"Cuando tenía 5 años vivía en California."
Translate and explain why this sentence is preterite or imperfect. (2)
"Mientras dormía, ella me llamó."
"While I was sleeping, she called me."
Imprefect tense - No definite beginning/end, background.
Preterite tense - Interruption.
Conjugate "ir" in the yo form.
"fui"
Conjugate "trabajar" in the nosotros form.
"trabajábamos."
Certain verbs have different meanings when in the preterite vs. the impefect.
True! (e.g. querer, saber, etc.)