In the beginner course you learned to talk about the past with the preterite. Spanish actually has two simple past tenses, and choosing between them is one of the most rewarding skills at the B1 level. The good news: the difference is not about grammar rules you must memorise so much as about what you want to say. Think of one tense as a camera snapshot and the other as background video, and the whole system starts to click.
The pretérito reports completed actions — things that happened and finished. The imperfecto paints the background — what was going on, what used to happen, what things were like. A story usually needs both: the imperfect sets the scene, and the preterite moves the plot forward.
Cuando era niño, vivía en Madrid. — When I was a child, I lived in Madrid. (backdrop)
Ayer llamé a mi abuela y hablamos una hora. — Yesterday I called my grandmother and we talked for an hour. (completed events)
Leía tranquilamente cuando sonó el teléfono. — I was reading quietly when the phone rang. (backdrop + interruption)
Regular verbs take these endings. Notice the accents on the "I" and "he/she" forms — they change the meaning, so they matter.
| Person | -ar (hablar) | -er (comer) | -ir (vivir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | viví |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | viviste |
| él/ella/usted | habló | comió | vivió |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros | hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos/ustedes | hablaron | comieron | vivieron |
A handful of very common verbs are irregular here and worth learning as a block: ser/ir share the same forms (fui, fuiste, fue…), plus hacer (hice), tener (tuve), estar (estuve), poder (pude), and decir (dije).
The imperfect is beautifully regular — and there are only three irregular verbs in the entire language.
| Person | -ar (hablar) | -er/-ir (comer/vivir) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaba | comía |
| tú | hablabas | comías |
| él/ella/usted | hablaba | comía |
| nosotros | hablábamos | comíamos |
| vosotros | hablabais | comíais |
| ellos/ustedes | hablaban | comían |
The three irregulars: ser (era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran), ir (iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban), and ver (veía, veías, veía…). That's the whole list.
Use the preterite when the action is a finished event, when you say how many times or how long something took, or when one thing interrupts another.
Use the imperfect for descriptions, ongoing situations, habitual actions ("used to"), age, time, weather, and feelings in the past.
| Use the imperfect for… | Use the preterite for… |
|---|---|
| Habitual actions — Siempre jugábamos aquí. | Single completed events — Jugamos un partido. |
| Descriptions & backdrop — Hacía frío. | Sequenced events — Entré, comí y salí. |
| Age, time, feelings — Tenía diez años. | Reactions & sudden changes — Me asusté. |
| Actions in progress — Dormía. | Bounded duration — Dormí ocho horas. |
A few verbs translate differently depending on the tense, because the preterite marks the moment it began. Sabía = "I knew," but supe = "I found out." Conocía = "I knew (someone)," but conocí = "I met." No quería = "I didn't want to," but no quise = "I refused." Podía = "I was able to," but pude = "I managed to."
Words like siempre, a menudo, todos los días and mientras lean toward the imperfect (repeated or ongoing). Words like ayer, anoche, de repente and una vez lean toward the preterite (a bounded moment). They are hints, not laws — but reliable ones.
Try these self-check prompts. Decide which tense fits and why.
Spanish fairy tales open with érase una vez ("once upon a time"), an imperfect form that instantly signals "storytelling backdrop." In everyday speech across Latin America and Spain, both tenses are used identically — this is one of the few areas of Spanish grammar with almost no regional variation, so mastering it pays off everywhere you go.
Choose the right past tense and write the correct form.
Write the irregular preterite.