Preterite vs. Imperfect

There are two past tenses used in spanish: preterite and imperfect. Most verbs can be put into either tense, depending upon the meaning. The preterite is used for actions that happened in the past and are completed, the action has a definite beginning and a definite end. The imperfect is used for actions that happened in the past and are not completed, the action does not have a definite beginning or end.

REGULAR PRETERITE CONJUGATION:

To conjucate a regular -ar verb into the preterite, drop the -ar ending and use:

To conjucate a regular -er or -ir verb into the preterite, drop the -er or -ir ending and use:

REGULAR IMPERFECT CONJUCATION:

To conjucate regular -ar verbs into the imperfect tense, drop the -ar ending and use:

To conjucate regular -er or -ir verbs into the imperfect tense, drop the -er or -ir ending and use: