When is preterite tense used

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a bilingual writer and longtime yoga teacher. A former advertising copywriter turned bilingual elementary school teacher, she is now a freelance writer, editor and translator. A native Texan, Michelle has Mexican roots and learned Spanish in middle and high school. She has become more fluent thanks to living as an expat in Guatemala. She lives with her family on beautiful Lake Atitlan.

Latest posts by Michelle Margaret Fajkus see all. Read More. How Are You? Spanish Greetings February 6, You are very helpful in making me understand the spanish language and muchas gracias. Thank you for reading! Here are a few examples. The imperfect tense is generally used for actions in the past that do not have a definite end. These can be actions that are not yet completed or refer to a time in general in the past.

It can also be used to talk about:. Here are some helpful words and phrases that often signal that a verb should be used in the imperfect. Learn Spanish. Sign in.

Useful Phrases. Verbs That Are Always Preterite. Irregular Preterite Review. The acronym SAFE will help you remember the types of situations in the past that require you to use the preterite tense. In the English examples below, the verbs in bold would be conjugated in the preterite in Spanish because of the way they are used in the sentence.

Use the preterite tense of the verb when the sentence indicates:. I called him three times. Articles 6. The Verb Form "hay" 7. Subject Pronouns 8. Verbs I 9. Verbs II Verbs III Adjectives I Adjectives II Days of the Week Numbers: Unit Two Ser and Estar I Ser and Estar II Ser and Estar III Ser and Estar IV Negation Questions Adjectives Tener, venir Weather Expressions The Personal "a" Contractions Unit Three Stem-Changing Verbs: o:ue Stem-Changing Verbs: e:ie Stem-changing verbs: e:i Estar, Ir, Dar Acabar de Volver a