Spanish has two main ways to talk about the past.

You must choose between the preterite tense and the imperfect tense.

Understanding the difference between them is essential for clear communication.

I’ll show you exactly how and when to use each one.

What is the preterite tense?

The preterite tense is used for actions that are completely finished.

These events have a clear beginning and a clear end.

You can think of the preterite as a snapshot of a specific moment in time.

It tells you exactly what happened once and then ended.

Here are the regular preterite endings for verbs in Spanish.

Let’s look at some examples of the preterite in action.

What is the imperfect tense?

The imperfect tense is used for ongoing actions in the past.

These actions don’t have a definite beginning or end.

You can think of the imperfect as a video recording rather than a snapshot.

It describes what was happening or what things used to be like.

Here are the regular imperfect endings for Spanish verbs.

Notice that ER and IR verbs share the exact same endings in the imperfect.

Let’s look at some examples of the imperfect tense.

The main differences between preterite and imperfect

Choosing between these two tenses comes down to the context of your sentence.

The preterite moves a story forward.

The imperfect provides the background details of a story.

Use the preterite for single, completed events.

Use the preterite for a chain of events that happened one after another.

Use the imperfect to talk about habits or things you “used to” do.

Use the imperfect to describe physical characteristics, feelings, age, and weather in the past.

Use the imperfect to talk about the time or date in the past.

Using both tenses in the same sentence

You’ll often see the preterite and imperfect used together in the exact same sentence.

This happens when an ongoing action is interrupted by a new, sudden event.

The background action uses the imperfect tense.

The interrupting action uses the preterite tense.

Here are a few examples of how they work together.

Summary

The preterite and imperfect both describe the past, but they serve completely different purposes.

The preterite is for finished actions with a clear timeframe.

The imperfect is for ongoing actions, descriptions, and habits.