The short version
- The preterite says what happened: fui, comí, llamó. The imperfect says what things were like, or what used to happen: era, hacía, vivía.
- Most stories use both: the imperfect sets the scene, the preterite moves the story on.
- Learn the few forms you'll use most as chunks, and practise telling short stories out loud.
Every story about the past has two parts: what happened, and what things were like at the time. Hacía un calor horrible y el bar estaba lleno. Entonces entró mi jefe. That's the whole preterite vs imperfect question in two sentences. The first sentence describes the scene. The second tells you what happened.
English does this too, with "was doing", "used to" and the simple past. In Spanish it's more visible, because the two tenses have different endings.
You don't need every rule to get this mostly right. You need one question, a few common forms and a lot of practice telling short stories.
The short answer
What happened
Actions and events that started and finished. The things that move the story forward.
What it was like
Background, descriptions, feelings, and things that used to happen regularly.
A quick way to think about it: if you could put the sentence on a list of events, it's usually the preterite. If it describes the situation around those events, it's usually the imperfect.
Llegué a casa (I got home) is an event. Estaba cansado (I was tired) is how things were when it happened.
When to use the preterite
The preterite is for things you see as finished and complete. One action, a series of actions, or something that lasted a set amount of time.
| Use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| A single finished action | Ayer fui al médico. | I went to the doctor yesterday. |
| A series of events | Me levanté, me duché y salí. | I got up, had a shower and went out. |
| Something sudden | De repente sonó el teléfono. | Suddenly the phone rang. |
| A period with a clear start and end | Viví tres años en Londres. | I lived in London for three years. |
| A reaction or change | Me encantó la película. | I loved the film. |
That fourth row surprises people. Three years is a long time, but you're looking at it as a finished block, so it's the preterite. Estuve dos horas esperando (I spent two hours waiting) works the same way.
These are the forms you'll say most often. Several of the most common verbs are irregular, so it's worth learning them as they are.
| I | We | Verb and meaning |
|---|---|---|
| fui | fuimos | ir / ser (went / was) |
| estuve | estuvimos | estar (was, spent time) |
| tuve | tuvimos | tener (had) |
| hice | hicimos | hacer (did, made) |
| dije | dijimos | decir (said) |
| comí | comimos | comer (ate, had lunch) |
| hablé | hablamos | hablar (talked) |
For regular verbs, the "he / she" forms end in -ó or -ió: habló, comió, salió. The accent matters. Hablo means "I speak". Habló means "he spoke".
When to use the imperfect
The imperfect is for the background. It describes a situation without saying when it started or finished.
| Use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| Description of a scene | Hacía sol y había mucha gente. | It was sunny and there were lots of people. |
| How someone felt | Estaba muy nerviosa. | She was really nervous. |
| Things that used to happen | Todos los veranos íbamos a la playa. | Every summer we used to go to the beach. |
| Age and time | Tenía diez años. Eran las once. | I was ten. It was eleven o'clock. |
| Something in progress | Mientras cocinaba, escuchaba la radio. | While I was cooking, I was listening to the radio. |
The good news is that the imperfect is very regular. Verbs ending in -ar go -aba: hablaba, trabajaba. Verbs ending in -er and -ir go -ía: comía, vivía. Only three verbs are irregular: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
In Spain, teachers usually call the preterite the pretérito indefinido, so you may see that name in books. You'll also hear a third past tense a lot in Spain: he ido, he comido. People use it for things that happened today or in a period that isn't over yet: Esta mañana he ido al gimnasio. You don't need to master it now, but don't be surprised when you hear it. There's more on it in how to talk about your weekend in Spanish.
Using both in one story
In real conversation you almost never use one tense on its own for long. The imperfect sets up the scene, and the preterite tells you what happened in it.
Here's one story, built up a piece at a time:
- El sábado fui a la playa.On Saturday I went to the beach.
- El sábado fui a la playa. Hacía un día precioso.On Saturday I went to the beach. It was a lovely day.
- El sábado fui a la playa. Hacía un día precioso y había muchísima gente.On Saturday I went to the beach. It was a lovely day and there were loads of people.
- El sábado fui a la playa. Hacía un día precioso y había muchísima gente. Mientras me bañaba, perdí las gafas de sol.On Saturday I went to the beach. It was a lovely day and there were loads of people. While I was swimming, I lost my sunglasses.
Fui and perdí are the events. Hacía, había and me bañaba describe what was going on around them.
The same pattern turns up in everyday chat:
Take something that happened to you this week. On the left side of a page, write three or four short events in the preterite: Salí de casa. Perdí el autobús. Llegué tarde. On the right, next to each one, write one line of background in the imperfect: Llovía. Iba muy lleno. Estaba de mal humor. Then tell the story out loud, mixing the two columns together. Do it with a new story every day for a week. You'll start to feel which tense goes where without stopping to think about it.
Words that point one way or the other
Some words and phrases go more naturally with one tense. They aren't strict rules, but they're good clues when you're not sure.
| Usually preterite | Usually imperfect | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado | antes, de pequeño, en aquella época |
| How often | una vez, dos veces | siempre, a menudo, todos los días |
| Change | de repente, entonces, al final | mientras, normalmente |
These words help, but they don't decide for you. Siempre often goes with the imperfect (Siempre llegaba tarde, he was always late), but Siempre me cayó bien (I always liked him) is also correct, looking back at the whole period. If you're not sure, go back to the main question: is this what happened, or what it was like?
Verbs that change meaning
A few common verbs mean something slightly different depending on the tense. You'll hear these often, so they're worth knowing.
| Preterite | Imperfect | |
|---|---|---|
| conocer | Conocí a Ana en 2019. (I met Ana in 2019.) | Ya conocía a Ana. (I already knew Ana.) |
| saber | Lo supe ayer. (I found out yesterday.) | Ya lo sabía. (I already knew.) |
| tener que | Tuve que trabajar. (I had to work, and I did.) | Tenía que trabajar. (I was supposed to work.) |
| querer | No quiso venir. (He refused to come.) | No quería venir. (He didn't want to come.) |
The tener que pair is useful for excuses. Tenía que llamarte, pero se me olvidó (I was meant to call you, but I forgot) only works with the imperfect.
The same kind of thinking helps with ser vs estar, where the question is what something is versus how it is right now.
Common mistakes
Cuando fui pequeño, viví en un pueblo.
Cuando era pequeño, vivía en un pueblo. Childhood is background, so it's imperfect.
Ayer iba al médico to say you went to the doctor.
Ayer fui al médico. A finished event is preterite.
Hacía sol cuando llegaba to say you arrived while it was sunny.
Hacía sol cuando llegué. The arrival is the event.
Using the imperfect for a long but finished period: Vivía tres años en Londres.
Viví tres años en Londres. A set length of time is preterite.
Stopping mid-story to work out the tense.
Pick one and keep going. You'll be understood, and practice fixes the rest.
Recap
- The preterite is what happened. The imperfect is what it was like.
- Most stories use both: imperfect for the scene, preterite for the events.
- Learn the common irregular forms like fui, estuve, tuve and hice as chunks.
- Signal words like ayer and siempre are clues, not rules.
- Practise by telling short stories out loud with events on one side and background on the other.
In 100 Spanish Conversations, the past tenses come inside real conversations, like your weekend, your last holiday or how you met someone, so you practise them in sentences you'll actually use. Try telling a two-column story in the community on Skool and someone will let you know how it sounds.
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com