Pretérito indefinido vs Imperfecto

📌 Nota gramatical

Use the Pretérito Indefinido (Simple Past) to talk about actions that happened at a specific moment in the past and are completely finished. It tells us what happened.

📌 Nota gramatical

Use the Pretérito Imperfecto to describe people, places, weather, age, or emotional states in the past without focusing on their beginning or end. It sets the scene.

📌 Nota gramatical

When telling a story with a sequence of main events that moved the plot forward one after another, use the indefinido for all of them.

📌 Nota gramatical

Use the imperfecto to express what used to happen regularly, routines, or repeated actions in the past without a specific endpoint. Equivalent to English 'used to' or 'would'.

📌 Nota gramatical

A very common pattern: an ongoing background action in the imperfecto is interrupted by a sudden, completed action in the indefinido. Usually connected by 'cuando' (when).

📌 Nota gramatical

When stating what time it was or someone's age at a specific point in the past, always use the imperfecto (ser for time, tener for age).

📌 Nota gramatical

Use the indefinido when an action has a defined duration with a clear beginning and end, or happened a specific number of times (e.g., 'dos veces').

📌 Nota gramatical

Certain words and phrases signal a specific point in time or a completed block, triggering the indefinido: ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), el año pasado (last year), de repente (suddenly).

📌 Nota gramatical

Expressions indicating habit, repetition, or lack of defined endpoints trigger the imperfecto: siempre (always), nunca (never), todos los días (every day), a menudo (often), muchas veces (many times).

📌 Nota gramatical

Some verbs change nuance significantly: 'conocer' in imperfecto means 'to know/be acquainted with', but in indefinido means 'to meet (for the first time)'. 'Saber' in imperfecto means 'to know (a fact)', in indefinido means 'to find out'.

📌 Nota gramatical

In stories or anecdotes, use the imperfecto to set the weather, environment, and characters' feelings, and use the indefinido for the actual events that move the narrative forward.

📌 Nota gramatical

When expressing mental states, wishes, or intentions without a clear endpoint in the past, use the imperfecto. 'Quería' is very common for polite requests or unfulfilled desires.