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Additional lessons on Preterite vs Imperfect

rodney
Established Presence
Posts: 57
Joined: January 21st, 2008 8:47 pm

Additional lessons on Preterite vs Imperfect

Postby rodney » September 17th, 2008 3:54 pm

You guys have done several great lessons about the grammar behind the preterite and imperfect tenses. The grammar rules seem straight forward, but I still have an incredibly difficult time trying to figure out when to use one or the other.

Sometimes it's very clear when to use each one, but on the whole I'm still struggling trying to master these two tenses.

If you all could come up with some type of lesson, forum post or anything that would really help to clarify when to choose one over the other, it would be great. I just can't seem to work things out with just the grammar rules alone.

Thanks!

Joseph
Expert on Something
Posts: 110
Joined: December 19th, 2007 1:24 am

preterit / imperfect tenses

Postby Joseph » September 20th, 2008 3:00 am

Rodney,

It not an easy distinction to make, so don't feel bad. I want to continue to think about how else to help you differentiate these two...

Here's one way to look at it which I don't think we've taught yet. The imperfect of the indicative can often be replaced by the absolute preterit indicative + gerund.

For example: "hablaba con Martín por dos horas" can also be phrased "estuve hablando con Martín por dos horas". Notice how the gerund accounts for the sense of duration which is implicit in the imperfect mood. Again, "trabajaba todo el día" can likewise be said "estuve trabajando todo el día".

In English, we use the preterit and gerund "I was talking", "I was working", and I hope that this makes it easier to link the idea of duration to the imperfect. For now, it may be useful to learn how to form it and then just keep your eyes open for instances of it. When you find an example of it, try to ask yourself what the time is that's expressed by it.

More to come, I promise.

Joseph

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nancykeen_73361
New in Town
Posts: 1
Joined: March 4th, 2018 8:34 pm

Re: Additional lessons on Preterite vs Imperfect

Postby nancykeen_73361 » March 4th, 2018 8:38 pm

Thanks! Additional lessons are indeed vital! I'd like to attend some of them. Follow http://puressay.com/blog/argumentative-essay-sample to learn more rules in English.

carlavapu5507
Been Around a Bit
Posts: 32
Joined: March 4th, 2014 4:22 am

Re: Additional lessons on Preterite vs Imperfect

Postby carlavapu5507 » March 13th, 2018 1:56 am

Hola !

Thank you for your comment.
I'm sure you classmates will enjoy it!
Sigamos practicando!

Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com

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