Preterite vs imperfect in Spanish, explained
Spanish has two simple past tenses. The preterite (hablé, comí) presents an action as finished and bounded: it happened, once or a set number of times, and the story moves on. The imperfect (hablaba, comía) shows the past from inside: background, description, habits ("used to"), actions in progress, time and age. "Ayer llovió" reports that it rained yesterday; "Ayer llovía" sets a scene in which it was raining, and something else is about to happen. The two often share a sentence: the imperfect for what was going on, the preterite for what happened.
Updated 24 October 2026
Preterite and imperfect in one table
| Use | Tense | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A single completed event | preterite | Ayer vi a Pablo. | I saw Pablo yesterday. |
| A sequence of events | preterite | Se levantó, se duchó y salió. | He got up, showered and left. |
| A closed period of time | preterite | Trabajé allí tres años. | I worked there for three years. |
| The event that interrupts | preterite | … cuando sonó el móvil. | … when the phone rang. |
| Background and description | imperfect | Hacía sol y el parque estaba lleno. | It was sunny and the park was full. |
| Habits, "used to" | imperfect | Íbamos a la playa cada verano. | We used to go to the beach every summer. |
| An action in progress | imperfect | Mientras ella cocinaba, yo ponía la mesa. | While she was cooking, I was laying the table. |
| Time and age in the past | imperfect | Eran las once. Tenía veinte años. | It was eleven o’clock. I was twenty. |
The usual shortcut, "preterite for short actions, imperfect for long ones", fails quickly. Length is not the point. "Trabajé allí tres años" lasted three years and still takes the preterite, because the speaker presents those years as a closed block. The real question is whether you are reporting an event that is over or describing what was going on at the time.
The preterite: what happened
Use the preterite when the action has a start and an end in the speaker’s view: it happened, it finished, and you can count it. It is the tense of the story line. A chain of preterites reads as a sequence, each event after the one before, so the order of the verbs is the order of the events.
, .
I got home, had dinner and went to bed.
Select a word to see why it is there.
LleguéVerb“I arrived”
- Why this word
- First-person singular preterite of llegar
- The first event of the evening, presented as finished: I arrived, and that part of the story is over. The -é ending is the preterite; llegaba would describe me on my way home instead.
- Dictionary
- llegar · verb — to arrive, to get (somewhere)
In this sentence
- Llegué · Verb:
- The first event of the evening, presented as finished: I arrived, and that part of the story is over. The -é ending is the preterite; llegaba would describe me on my way home instead.
- cené · Verb:
- The second event, which happens after the first. Because both verbs are preterite, Spanish reads them in order: arrive, then eat.
- acosté · Verb:
- The last event closes the sequence. Me acostaba here would turn it into a background ("I was going to bed") and leave the listener waiting for what happened next.
- El sábado fuimos al cine.On Saturday we went to the cinema. (One outing, over.)
- Llamé tres veces, pero nadie contestó.I rang three times, but nobody answered. (A counted number of times.)
- Estudié alemán durante dos años.I studied German for two years. (A closed period: it ended.)
- De repente, el perro empezó a ladrar.Suddenly, the dog started barking. (A change at one moment.)
Explain the preterite at your levelwith Plus
The imperfect: what was going on
The imperfect looks at the past from inside, without an end in view. It describes people, places and weather; it says what used to happen again and again; it says what was in progress; and it gives the time and people’s ages. None of these moves the story forward. They are the scenery the preterite events happen in front of.
English often marks a habit with "used to" or "would" ("we would go to the beach"), and an action in progress with "was -ing". Spanish uses the imperfect for both. Plain English past forms like "played" can mean either tense, so translate the meaning, not the English verb.
, .
When I was ten, I played football every afternoon.
Select a word to see why it is there.
teníaVerb“I was (aged)”
- Why this word
- First-person singular imperfect of tener
- Age in the past is a state, so it takes the imperfect: tenía diez años. Tuve diez años is wrong; for the birthday itself, Spanish says cumplí diez años.
- Dictionary
- tener · verb — to have; with años, to be (an age)
In this sentence
- tenía · Verb:
- Age in the past is a state, so it takes the imperfect: tenía diez años. Tuve diez años is wrong; for the birthday itself, Spanish says cumplí diez años.
- jugaba · Verb:
- A habit with no fixed count: it happened every afternoon for a stretch of childhood. Jugué would report one game, or a closed period with an end.
- La casa era vieja y tenía un jardín enorme.The house was old and had a huge garden. (Description.)
- Mi abuelo siempre leía el periódico en el bar.My grandfather always read the paper in the bar. (A habit.)
- Eran las diez de la noche y hacía frío.It was ten at night and it was cold. (Time and weather.)
The interrupted action: imperfect, cuando, preterite
The commonest sentence that uses both tenses has one action in progress and another that cuts across it. The action in progress takes the imperfect; the event that breaks in takes the preterite, usually after cuando ("when"). The order can flip ("Cuando llegó Juan, yo dormía") without changing which verb takes which tense.
.
We were having dinner when the power went out.
Select a word to see why it is there.
CenábamosVerb“we were having dinner”
- Why this word
- First-person plural imperfect of cenar
- The action in progress, with no end in view: we were in the middle of dinner. This is the background the interruption happens against.
- Dictionary
- cenar · verb — to have dinner
- Alternatives
- Estábamos cenando (we were having dinner, stressing the moment)
In this sentence
- Cenábamos · Verb:
- The action in progress, with no end in view: we were in the middle of dinner. This is the background the interruption happens against.
- fue · Verb:
- The interruption: one sudden event at one moment, so preterite. Se iba la luz would describe the lights flickering on and off as a background, not a cut.
Mientras ("while") usually goes with the imperfect, because it opens an action in progress. Two imperfects side by side mean two things going on at the same time; an imperfect followed by a preterite means something happened during the other.
- Mientras esperaba el autobús, empezó a llover.While I was waiting for the bus, it started to rain.
- Mientras yo trabajaba, los niños jugaban en el jardín.While I was working, the children were playing in the garden.
- Yo dormía cuando llamaste.I was asleep when you rang.
Signal words
Some time expressions lean strongly to one tense. Anything that fixes a point or closes a period (ayer, el año pasado, de repente, una vez) points to the preterite. Anything that says "regularly" or "during" (siempre, todos los días, mientras) points to the imperfect.
| Preterite signal | Meaning | Imperfect signal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ayer, anoche | yesterday, last night | siempre | always |
| el año pasado | last year | todos los días | every day |
| hace dos días | two days ago | a menudo | often |
| de repente | suddenly | normalmente | usually |
| una vez, dos veces | once, twice | mientras | while |
| en 2019 | in 2019 | de niño, de pequeño | as a child |
These are tendencies, not rules. "Ayer llovía cuando salí de casa" has ayer and an imperfect, because the rain is the background to leaving. "Siempre te quise" ("I always loved you") has siempre and a preterite, because the speaker sums up a love that is now over. When the signal word and the meaning disagree, the meaning wins.
Verbs that change meaning
A handful of verbs describe a state in the imperfect and the moment that state began, or a single attempt, in the preterite. English needs a different verb for each.
| Verb | Preterite | Imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| conocer | conocí: I met (for the first time) | conocía: I knew, I was acquainted with |
| saber | supe: I found out | sabía: I knew |
| querer | quise: I tried, I set out to | quería: I wanted |
| no querer | no quise: I refused | no quería: I didn’t want to |
| poder | pude: I managed to; no pude: I failed to | podía: I could, I was able to |
| tener | tuve: I got, I received; tuve que: I had to (and did) | tenía: I had; tenía que: I was supposed to |
.
Yesterday I found out that Luis was ill.
Select a word to see why it is there.
supeVerb“I found out”
- Why this word
- First-person singular preterite of saber
- In the preterite, saber means the moment knowledge began: I found out. Sabía que Luis estaba enfermo would mean I already knew.
- Dictionary
- saber · verb — to know; in the preterite, to find out
- Alternatives
- me enteré de (I found out, a more explicit verb)
In this sentence
- supe · Verb:
- In the preterite, saber means the moment knowledge began: I found out. Sabía que Luis estaba enfermo would mean I already knew.
- estaba · Auxiliary:
- The illness was an ongoing state at the time I found out, so imperfect. Estuvo enfermo would sum up an illness that had already ended.
- Conocí a Ana en una boda.I met Ana at a wedding.
- Ya conocía a Ana del colegio.I already knew Ana from school.
- Quise abrir la puerta, pero no pude.I tried to open the door, but I couldn’t.
- Lo invitamos, pero no quiso venir.We invited him, but he refused to come.
- Tenía que llamarla, pero se me olvidó.I was supposed to call her, but I forgot.
Same sentence, two tenses
Change one verb and the story changes. Below, the first verb is the same; only Marta’s verb differs. In the preterite her leaving is a new event that follows my arrival. In the imperfect it was already under way when I walked in.
, .
When I arrived, Marta left. (She left after I got there.)
Select a word to see why it is there.
salióVerb“left”
- Why this word
- Third-person singular preterite of salir
- A second completed event, after the first. Read with llegué, it suggests Marta left because I arrived, or at least right after.
- Dictionary
- salir · verb — to go out, to leave
- Alternatives
- se fue (went away, more common in speech)
In this sentence
- salió · Verb:
- A second completed event, after the first. Read with llegué, it suggests Marta left because I arrived, or at least right after.
, .
When I arrived, Marta was leaving. (She was already on her way out.)
Select a word to see why it is there.
salíaVerb“was leaving”
- Why this word
- Third-person singular imperfect of salir
- An action already in progress at the moment I arrived: we crossed in the doorway. Her leaving has nothing to do with me.
- Dictionary
- salir · verb — to go out, to leave
- Alternatives
- estaba saliendo (was leaving, stressing the moment)
In this sentence
- salía · Verb:
- An action already in progress at the moment I arrived: we crossed in the doorway. Her leaving has nothing to do with me.
- Ayer llovió.It rained yesterday. (A fact about yesterday, complete.)
- Ayer llovía cuando salí de casa.Yesterday it was raining when I left the house. (The rain is the backdrop.)
The regular endings
Regular -er and -ir verbs share one set of endings in each tense. Note the written accents in the preterite: hablé ("I spoke") and habló ("he spoke") differ from hablo ("I speak") only by the accent and the stress.
| Person | Preterite -ar (hablar) | Preterite -er/-ir (comer) | Imperfect -ar (hablar) | Imperfect -er/-ir (comer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | hablaba | comía |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | hablabas | comías |
| él, ella, usted | habló | comió | hablaba | comía |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos | hablábamos | comíamos |
| vosotros | hablasteis | comisteis | hablabais | comíais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hablaron | comieron | hablaban | comían |
The imperfect is almost entirely regular: only ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía) are irregular. The preterite has many irregular verbs, and they are the common ones: ser and ir share fui, fue, fueron; tener gives tuve, estar estuve, hacer hice, poder pude, querer quise, saber supe, decir dije, venir vine. In the imperfect, yo and él/ella have the same form (yo hablaba, ella hablaba), so add the pronoun when context does not make it clear. The nosotros preterite of -ar and -ir verbs (hablamos, vivimos) is the same as the present; context decides.
Common mistakes
NotDe niño fui a la playa todos los veranos.
ButDe niño iba a la playa todos los veranos.
A habit repeated an open number of times is imperfect. "Todos los veranos" and "de niño" both signal it.
NotVeía la tele cuando llamaba mi madre.
ButVeía la tele cuando llamó mi madre.
The call is the single event that interrupts, so it takes the preterite. With two imperfects the sentence reads as a habit: whenever my mother called, I was watching TV.
NotCuando tuve ocho años, me mudé a Valencia.
ButCuando tenía ocho años, me mudé a Valencia.
Age is a background state, so imperfect. To say you turned eight, use cumplir: cumplí ocho años.
NotVivía en Roma dos años.
ButViví en Roma dos años.
A period with a stated length that is over is a closed block, so preterite, however long it lasted.
NotConocía a mi novio en 2020.
ButConocí a mi novio en 2020.
Meeting someone for the first time is the preterite of conocer. Conocía means you already knew them.
NotLa casa fue grande y tuvo un jardín.
ButLa casa era grande y tenía un jardín.
Describing what something was like is imperfect. Fue and tuvo turn the description into events.
Practise these with the tutorwith Pro
Check yourself
1 / 10
This is a childhood habit. Pick the right verb.
Cuando era pequeña, mi madre me ___ cuentos todas las noches.
Answer
lee: Lee is present: she reads me stories now. The sentence is about childhood.
leía ✓: Right: a habit repeated every night for years, with no count, is imperfect.
leyó: Leyó reports one reading, or a finished block. "Todas las noches" asks for the habit, so the imperfect.
2 / 10
Something interrupts the shower. Pick the right verb.
Me duchaba cuando ___ el timbre.
Answer
suena: Suena is present tense; the story is in the past.
sonó ✓: Right: the doorbell rang once, at one moment, and cut into the shower. Interruption, preterite.
sonaba: Sonaba makes the bell a second background action, or turns the sentence into a habit (whenever the bell rang, I was in the shower), instead of the event that interrupted.
3 / 10
Say how old you were. Pick the right verb.
___ quince años cuando aprendí a nadar.
Answer
Tuve: Tuve quince años is not how Spanish gives an age. For the birthday itself you would say cumplí quince años.
Tenía ✓: Right: age in the past is a state, so imperfect.
Tengo: Tengo is present: I am fifteen now. It clashes with aprendí.
4 / 10
The stay is over and has a length. Pick the right verb.
Mis padres ___ en Alemania cinco años y luego volvieron.
Answer
vivían: The imperfect has no end in view, so it clashes with a counted period ("cinco años") and with "luego volvieron".
vivieron ✓: Right: five years, now over, followed by the return. A closed period is preterite.
viven: Viven is present: they live there now, which contradicts volvieron.
5 / 10
Which sentence says you met Carlos for the first time on the train?
Answer
Conocía a Carlos en el tren.: Conocía means you already knew Carlos. It cannot mark the first meeting.
Conozco a Carlos del tren.: Present: I know Carlos from the train. It says you know him now, not when you met.
Conocí a Carlos en el tren. ✓: Right: the preterite of conocer is the moment the acquaintance began.
6 / 10
You are describing a kitchen. Pick the right verb.
La cocina ___ pequeña, pero tenía mucha luz.
Answer
fue: Fue presents the size as an event that happened and finished, which does not fit a description.
estuvo: Estar is the wrong verb for size, and the preterite turns the description into an event.
era ✓: Right: what the kitchen was like is description, so imperfect, like tenía after it.
7 / 10
Build the sentence: one action in progress, one that interrupts it.
“I was reading when you called me.”
Answer
Yo leía cuando me llamaste
Imperfect for the background action, then cuando and a preterite for the event that interrupts it.
8 / 10
Build the sentence with querer and poder in the preterite.
“I tried to ring, but I couldn’t.”
Answer
Quise llamar, pero no pude
In the preterite, quise is an attempt and no pude a failure. Quería llamar, pero no podía would only describe a wish and an inability, without saying you tried.
9 / 10
Type the yo form of cenar that fits.
Anoche ___ con mis primos.
Answer
cené
Cené: a single event last night, so preterite. Anoche is a typical preterite signal.
10 / 10
Type the nosotros form of vivir that fits.
Antes ___ cerca del mar, y lo echo de menos.
Answer
vivíamos
Vivíamos: "antes" (back then) describes how things used to be, with no end point given, so imperfect.
Preterite and imperfect in Epsylo
Every Spanish verb in a breakdown carries its tense in the word card ("preterite of llegar", "imperfect of tener"), with a reason tied to the sentence. Paste a paragraph from a novel or a news story and you can see which verbs carry the plot and which set the scene.
Questions
- Is the preterite the same as the English simple past?
- Often, but not always. English "played" covers both tenses: "I played tennis yesterday" is jugué, while "I played tennis every Sunday" is jugaba. Translate what the sentence means, an event or a habit, rather than the English form.
- How do I say "used to" and "was doing" in Spanish?
- "Used to" is the imperfect: íbamos ("we used to go"), or soler in the imperfect: solíamos ir. "Was doing" is the imperfect too, or estar in the imperfect plus a gerund for an action in progress at one moment: estaba leyendo.
- Does siempre always take the imperfect?
- No. Siempre usually goes with the imperfect because it describes a habit, but it takes the preterite when the speaker sums up a whole period that is over: "Siempre te quise" ("I always loved you").
- Can a long action take the preterite?
- Yes, if it is presented as finished and bounded. "Estuvimos casados veinte años" ("We were married for twenty years") is preterite: the marriage lasted twenty years and ended. Length does not decide the tense; whether the period is closed does.
- What about the present perfect, he comido?
- In most of Spain, events in a time frame that includes now (hoy, esta semana) use the present perfect: "Hoy he comido paella". In most of Latin America the preterite covers them as well: "Hoy comí paella". Neither replaces the imperfect, which keeps its job of background and habit everywhere.
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