Preterite vs. Imperfect in Spanish: The Complete Guide

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Grammar Guide · Verbs

Preterite vs. Imperfect

Both are "past tense" in Spanish — but they answer different questions. One tells you WHAT happened. The other tells you what things WERE LIKE.

Spanish 2 & 3 Most Confused Rule 6 Min Read

Why This Is Confusing

English only has one simple past tense — "I walked," "I was walking," "I used to walk" all get mixed together in casual speech. Spanish splits the past into two tenses: preterite (completed actions) and imperfect (ongoing or habitual actions).

The key question to ask yourself: "Is this a specific event that happened and finished? Or is this describing what things were like, or something that used to happen?" That question decides everything.

The Core Rule

PRETERITE

Completed, specific events

• 1A specific completed actionAyer comí pizza. (I ate pizza yesterday.)
• 2A stated number of timesFui al cine tres veces. (I went 3 times.)
• 3A sequence of finished eventsMe desperté, comí y salí. (I woke up, ate, and left.)
• 4The action that interrupts...cuando sonó el teléfono. (...when the phone rang.)

IMPERFECT

Remember: WEIRDO

• WWeatherLlovía. (It was raining.)
• EEmotion / mental stateEstaba feliz. (I was happy.)
• RRepeated / habitual actionJugaba fútbol todos los días. (I used to play every day.)
• DDescription (people, places, age, time)Tenía diez años. (I was ten years old.)
• OOngoing action, interruptedEstaba durmiendo cuando... (I was sleeping when...)

💡 The quickest test: If you can put "one time" or "then" in front of the sentence in English, it's usually preterite. If you can put "used to" or "was/were ___ing" in front of it, it's usually imperfect.

Trigger Words

Usually Preterite

ayer anoche una vez de repente el año pasado finalmente

Usually Imperfect

siempre todos los días a menudo mientras de niño/a frecuentemente

Conjugation (Regular Verbs)

Preterite — hablar

yo	hablé
tú	hablaste
él / ella / usted	habló
nosotros	hablamos
vosotros	hablasteis
ellos / ustedes	hablaron

Imperfect — hablar

yo	hablaba
tú	hablabas
él / ella / usted	hablaba
nosotros	hablábamos
vosotros	hablabais
ellos / ustedes	hablaban

Good news about imperfect: only 3 verbs are irregular — ser (era), ir (iba), and ver (veía). Every other verb follows the regular pattern above. Preterite has more irregulars (hacer → hice, tener → tuve, estar → estuve, decir → dije), so those are worth memorizing separately.

Common Mistakes

✗ Ayer, yo iba al cine con mis amigos.

✓ Ayer, yo fui al cine con mis amigos.

"Ayer" signals one specific, completed trip — that's preterite (fui), not imperfect (iba).

✗ Cuando era niño, jugué fútbol todos los días.

✓ Cuando era niño, jugaba fútbol todos los días.

"Todos los días" signals a repeated, habitual action — that's imperfect (jugaba), not preterite (jugué).

✗ Estaba durmiendo cuando el teléfono sonaba.

✓ Estaba durmiendo cuando el teléfono sonó.

The background action (sleeping) stays imperfect. The action that interrupts it (the phone ringing, a single completed moment) switches to preterite (sonó).

Check Your Understanding

Preterite vs. Imperfect — Quick Check

Question 1 of 10

Ayer, nosotros ___ a la playa.

Question 2 of 10

Cuando era joven, mi abuela ___ historias increíbles.

Question 3 of 10

De repente, el perro ___ a ladrar.

Question 4 of 10

Mientras yo ___ la tarea, mi hermano miraba televisión.

Question 5 of 10

El año pasado, ellos ___ a España.

Question 6 of 10

Todos los veranos, nosotros ___ a la casa de mis abuelos.

Question 7 of 10

Anoche, yo ___ una película muy buena.

Question 8 of 10

Cuando tenía diez años, yo ___ miedo de la oscuridad.

Question 9 of 10

La fiesta ___ a las ocho y terminó a la medianoche.

Question 10 of 10

Hacía mucho frío cuando nosotros ___ a la montaña.

out of 10 correct

Want to really master this? Try the full Preterite vs. Imperfect practice drill — new sentence combinations every time.

Go to Practice →

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