7.4 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 chapter
7.6. 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 andpretérito
indefinido. Here you will have an overview over
all the three tenses:
Use
of the three tenses
pretérito
imperfecto
1.
There are two actions
in the past that happen at the same
time.
2.
There is an action in the past
that is disrupted by another action
in the past.
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.
pretérito
indefinido
1.
2.
It is an action in the past that was finished
in the past and does not have any influence
on the present anymore.
There are more than one actions in a sequence
in the past.
pretérito
perfecto = present perfect
1.
2.
The action happened in the past, nevertheless, it
still has an influence on the present for
the speaker.
The speaker is in the same time frame /
time "zone" like the action he
is talking about.
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.
pretérito
imperfecto and pretérito indefinido
English
sentence
There was a little village,
but the people were happy.
Spanish
correct
Era un pueblo pequeño,
pero la gente era feliz
explanation
It's not important when
the village existed and whether it is still
on this planet. It just was.
Spanish
incorrect
Fue un pueblo pequeño,
pero la gente fue feliz
English
sentence
There was a little, beautiful
village, but the bomb destroyed it completely.
Spanish
correct
Fue un pueblo pequeño
y bonito, pero la bomba lo destruyó
completamente
explanation
The finality of the action
is the main point. The village doesn't exist
anymore.
Spanish
incorrect
Era un pueblo
pequeño y bonito, pero la bomba lo
destruyó completamente
English
sentence
While he told me the
story of his life, I was bored to death.
Spanish
correct
Mientras él me
contaba su vida, yo me aburría a muerte
explanation
The "classic"
case: there are two actions at the same time.
Spanish
incorrect
Mientras me contó
su vida, yo me aburrí a muerte
English
sentence
I was walking on the
street when suddenly the accident happened
that changed my life.
Spanish
correct
Paseaba por la calle,
cuando de repente ocurrió este accidente,
que cambió mi vida
explanation
There is the basic action
- walking on the street - that is interrupted
/ disturbed by a second action - the accident,
that changed my life.
Spanish
incorrect
Pasé por la
calle, cuando de repente ocurrió este
accidente, que cambió mi vida
English
sentence
He drank his beer, paid
and left.
Spanish
correct
Bebió su cerveza,
pagó y se fue
explanation
More than one action
that occurs in succession.
Spanish
incorrect
Bebía su cerveza,
pagaba y se iba
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
saber
in indefinido = get 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?
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
conocer
in indefinido = to get to know, to meet
A María,
la conocía ya cuando todavía
vivía en Paris.
I knew María already when living in Paris.
A María,
la conocí en Paris
I met María in Paris
tener
tener
in imperfecto = to have, to own
tener
in indefinido = to get
Tenía
una casa muy linda en Berlín,
pero vivía en Munich
He had a very nice house in Berlin,
but he lived in Munich.
Cuando tuvo
la casa en Berlin, se mudó
When he got a house in Berlin
he moved right away.
