2.7.1 Use of pretérito perfecto, pretérito indefinido and pretérito imperfecto
Actually it's quite easy to differentiate the pretérito plusquamperfecto from the other tenses, but we'll have a look at this a little later in Intermediate Lesson 4.6. The pretérito perfecto is again quite simple to recognise since - as you will see it is very similar to the English present perfect . For most of us it's a bit tricky to find the difference between pretérito imperfecto and pretérito indefinido. Here you will have an overview over all the three tenses:
Use of the three tenses
| pretérito imperfecto | pretérito indefinido | pretérito perfecto = present perfect |
| 1. There are two actions in the past that happen at the same time. | 1. It is an action in the past that was finished in the past and does not have any influence on the present anymore. | 1. The action happened in the past, nevertheless, it still has an influence on the present for the speaker. |
| 2. There is an action in the past that is disrupted by another action in the past. | 2. There are more than one actions in a sequence in the past. | 2. The speaker is in the same time frame / time "zone" like the action he is talking about. |
| 3. The action is repeated in the past. | ||
| 4. It's not clear whether the action that started in the past still continues or not. | ||
| 5. It's not actually important when it happened. It's just in the past. |
Just have a look at the table to find some significant examples
pretérito imperfecto, pretérito perfecto and pretérito indefinido
Let us have a look at the implications, which the different tenses have and what kind of association they give:
| Él estuvo enfermo | El año pasado estuvo enfermo | Last year he was ill. |
| Él estaba enfermo | Él estaba enfermo, cuando sus padres construían la casa | When his parents built the house, he was ill. |
| Él ha estado enfermo | Al principio de este año él ha estado enfermo, pero ahora está bien | At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again. |
| English sentence | Spanish correct | Spanish incorrect | explanation |
| There was a little village, but the people were happy. | Era un pueblo pequeño, pero la gente era feliz. | Fue un pueblo pequeño, pero la gente fue feliz. | It's not important when the village existed and whether it is still on this planet. It just was. |
| English sentence | Spanish correct | Spanish incorrect | explanation |
| There was a little, beautiful village, but the bomb destroyed it completely. | Fue un pueblo pequeño y bonito, pero la bomba lo destruyó completamente. | ra un pueblo pequeño y bonito, pero la bomba lo destruyó completamente. | The finality of the action is the main point. The village doesn't exist anymore. |
| English sentence | Spanish correct | Spanish incorrect | explanation |
| While he told me the story of his life, I was bored to death. | Mientras él me contaba su vida, yo me aburría a muerte. | Mientras me contó su vida, yo me aburrí a muerte. | The "classic" case: there are two actions at the same time. |
| English sentence | Spanish correct | Spanish incorrect | explanation |
| I was walking on the street when suddenly the accident happened that changed my life. | Me paseaba por la calle, cuando de repente ocurrió este accidente, que cambió mi vida. | Me pasé por la calle, cuando de repente ocurrió este accidente, que cambió mi vida. | There is the basic action - walking on the street - that is interrupted / disturbed by a second action - the accident, that changed my life. |
| English sentence | Spanish correct | Spanish incorrect | explanation |
| He drank his beer, paid and left. | Bebió su cerveza, pagó y se fue. | Bebía su cerveza, pagaba y se iba. | More than one action that occurs in succession. |
We already had a short glance at the verbs that have a different meaning when used in imperfecto in comparison to the indefinido.
saber
saber in imperfecto = to know
Cuando la viste, sabías ya que se había muerto su marido? = When you saw her, did you already know that her husband had died?
saber in indefinido = get to know
Si, lo supe el domingo, cuando María me lo dijo. = Yes, I heard about it on Sunday, when María told me.
Cuando la viste, sabías ya que se había muerto su marido? = When you saw her, did you already know that her husband had died?
saber in indefinido = get to know
Si, lo supe el domingo, cuando María me lo dijo. = Yes, I heard about it on Sunday, when María told me.
conocer
conocer in imperfecto = to know
A María, la conocía ya cuando todavía vivía en Paris. = I knew María already when living in Paris.
conocer in indefinido = to get to know, to meet
A María, la conocí en Paris. = I met María in Paris.
A María, la conocía ya cuando todavía vivía en Paris. = I knew María already when living in Paris.
conocer in indefinido = to get to know, to meet
A María, la conocí en Paris. = I met María in Paris.
tener
tener in imperfecto = to have, to own
Tenía una casa muy linda en Berlín, pero vivía en Munich. = He had a very nice house in Berlin, but he lived in Munich.
tener in indefinido = to get
Cuando tuvo la casa en Berlin, se mudó. = When he got a house in Berlin he moved right away.
Tenía una casa muy linda en Berlín, pero vivía en Munich. = He had a very nice house in Berlin, but he lived in Munich.
tener in indefinido = to get
Cuando tuvo la casa en Berlin, se mudó. = When he got a house in Berlin he moved right away.