The tricky past tenses

26 February 2011

By Carolin Schoeller

Learning Spanish is fun and rewarding; however, many of you will find grammar rules complex and challenging. Knowing which tense is appropriate can be difficult, in particular using the right tense at the right time. 

Today I will discuss the different past tenses, helping you come to terms with the infamous “los pasados”.

To begin, I will focus on the three most frequently used tenses, pretérito indefinido, the imperfecto and the pretérito perfecto. I will introduce their respective uses and explain how to avoid confusion.


The difference between the indefinido and the imperfecto:
Okay, so first of all, the imperfect tense is used to describe an on-going action or condition in the past.
Example:
“She had a dog” – “Tenía un perro”.

On the other hand, the indefinido is the tense in which we talk about sudden changes or events which only occur once.
Example:
“She bought the dog in 2005” – “Compró el perro en 2005”.

It is only when you see these two tenses together in one sentence that you really understand their respective uses. The indefinido is used to interrupt a condition in the imperfecto.
Example:
“She had a dog, but it died in 2010” – “Tenía un perro, pero murió en 2010”.

Another important characteristic of the indefinido is that it can indicate the beginning or ending of an action, whereas the imperfecto describes the time frame in between.
Example:
“She bought the dog in 2005, but it died in 2010” – “Ella compró el perro en 2005, pero murió en 2010.”
“She used to have a dog.” – “Ella tenía un perro”.

As you can see in this example, sentences in the imperfecto are often similar to the “used to…” expression in English.
Example:
“He used to eat rice every day.” – “Comía arroz todos los días.”

However, verbs in the imperfecto can often also be translated in the “was +present participle (the –ing) form).
Example:
“She was talking to her friend when her mother called.” – “Estaba hablando con su amigo cuando la llamó su madre.”

Changes of meaning:
The following table shows you how some of the commonly used verbs change depending on whether you use the indefinido or the imperfecto.

Verb

Pretérito
Indefinido

English
meaning

Imperfecto

English
meaning

poder

pude

I managed to

podía

I was able to

no poder

no pude

I failed to

no podía

I was not able to

saber

supe

I found out

sabía

I knew

querer

quise

I tried to

quería

I wanted

no querer

no quise

I refused to

no quería

I did not want to

conocer

conocí

I met

conocía

I knew

tener que + inf.

tuve que

I had to

tenía que

I was supposed to

 

The use of the pretérito perfecto:
The pretérito perfecto expresses an action which either happened a very short while ago or at an unspecified point in the past.
Example:
“They have travelled to Chile.” – “Han viajado a Chile.”

The pretérito perfecto can also describe something which happened or started to happen at a specific time in the past but continues into the present or which still has an effect on the present. 
Example:
“He has been my boyfriend for 2 years.” – “Ha sido mi novio por 2 años.”

The use of the past tenses in Spain versus in Latin America:
One major difference between Latin American and Castilian Spanish is how native speakers employ the different past tenses. Whilst people from Spain usually make frequent use of the pretérito perfecto to describe recent actions, Spanish-speakers from Central and South America often use the pretérito perfecto instead.
Example: “He arrived a little while ago” – In Spain: “Ha llegado hace un rato” / in Latin America: “Llegó hace un rato”.

I have put together the following table in order to compare the three tenses, their use and key indicating words.

Imperfecto

Pretérito Indefinido

Pretérito Perfecto

Used to describe actions which:
- have not been completed yet 
- are on-going or continuous 

Used to describe actions which:
- have been completed
- only occurred once

Used to describe actions which:
- still have an effect on the present
- have only just occurred

The imperfect also describes characteristics of people or objects such as size, colour and habits.

The indefinido is used for events which interrupted another action.

The pretérito perfecto expresses an action which has happened at a recent point in the past.

·         Key words:

·         siempre, antes, todos los días, mientras, normalmente, de vez en cuando, los lunes

·         Key words:

·         ayer, en abril, en 1945, hace tres meses, de repente, luego, un día, el lunes pasado

·         Key words:

·         ya, alguna vez, hace un rato   

 

Finally, below I have drawn a useful diagram for when you’re not sure which past tense to use:


I hope this article proves to be of some help to you, but don’t worry if you occasionally use the wrong tense – practice makes perfect!

Chau for now,
Carolin

 

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