Learn about imperfect tense and the preterit tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Buenos días, soy Dylan. |
| Carlos: Carlos here. “Imperfect versus Preterit”. |
| Dylan: Hey, everybody. How’s everybody doing? This is Dylan. |
| Carlos: What’s the good word, pod101 world? My name is Carlos. |
| Dylan: How are you today, Carlos? |
| Carlos: Good, good. Dylan, are you feeling better? I know you were feeling a little sick last week. |
| Dylan: Well, I got a slight cough and my voice is a little different, so, you know… |
| Carlos: Well, I know I for one I’m glad to have you back. |
| Dylan: Thank you. |
| Carlos: But, seriously, we have an important lesson today and I couldn’t do it without you. |
| Dylan: It’s nice to be appreciated. |
| Carlos: That it is, Dylan. |
| Dylan: So, what’s so important? |
| Carlos: Well, today we have a all-out cage mass between two foes. |
| Dylan: What? |
| Carlos: That’s right. We mean censorship for the violence about the good down. |
| Dylan: Are you ok, Carlos? |
| Carlos: No, I’m fine. I’m just excited because today we have, drum off please… Okay, fine. Even with the drum roll, today we have the Imperfect versus the Preterit. |
| Dylan: That was almost funny. |
| Carlos: It was funny to me. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dylan: Okay. So, what three of a verbs are we using to flash out this competition? |
| Carlos: “Tratar” – “to try”, “saber” - “to know” and “decir” – “to say.” |
| Dylan: Good ones. |
| Carlos: Dylan, why do you think that the Imperfect and Preterit are so difficult for people to learn? |
| Dylan: Well, think about it. Learning to distinguish the two so called Simple Past Forms can be a little tricky for foreigners, especially for native speakers of English, since in English there’s one simple past form. |
| Carlos: That makes sense. |
| Dylan: So, let’s think about this a bit. If I say “Vi un libro interesante en la librería” it’s like saying “I saw an interesting book in the bookstore.” |
| Carlos: I always see interesting books in the bookstore. You know, one thing I cannot resist is processing books. |
| Dylan: Focus. |
| Carlos: Oh, oh, sorry. |
| Dylan: Notice how the action of the verb “vi” is complete and in the past. It’s an action that has a defined beginning and end. |
| Carlos: So, that is the… |
| Dylan: Preterit Tense. And, of course, we’re talking about the Preterit Tense of the Indicative Mood. |
| Carlos: Of course, of course. |
| Dylan: Now, now, Carlos… |
| Carlos: Yes. |
| Dylan: Listen to this example. Okay? |
| Carlos: I’m listening. |
| Dylan: “Veía un libro interesante en la librería”. In this case, we’re saying “I was looking at an interesting book in the bookstore.” Here, the verb “veía” expresses the duration of a past action. And we do not know when this action began or ended, we only know that it happened before the present. |
| Carlos: All right. So, it definitely happened, we just don’t know the time for it. |
| Dylan: Kind of. So, we can distinguish these two, but it’s also really important to know how these two forms are used in a single sentence. |
| Carlos: Are we going back to the bookstore? |
| Dylan: Yes. For example, “Buscaba un libro en la librería, pero no lo encontré”. – “I was looking for a book in the bookstore, but I didn’t find it.” Notice here how the action of the verb “buscaba”, Imperfect, is interrupted, so to speak, by the action of the verb “encontré” – “I was looking for the book in the bookstore, but I didn’t find it.” |
| Carlos: You know, I was just going to say that. |
| Dylan: Or, another example. “Viajaba por toda Latinoamérica cuando decidí escribir una novela”. - “I was travelling all over Latin America when I decided to write a novel.” |
| Carlos: Aren’t you going to explain? |
| Dylan: I was waiting for you. |
| Carlos: Dylan, why mess up a good thing? Go right ahead. |
| Dylan: Okay, ok. So, here, the action of “viajar”, which is “travelling”, is interrupted by the action of “decidí” – “I decided”. Notice how the first verb is in the Imperfect. And there, it’s incomplete. While the second is in the Preterit and is complete. |
| Carlos: You know, I could see that. Things are getting clearer and clearer. |
| Dylan: They’ll be lot more clear when you hit the Verb Conjugation Section in the Learning Center. |
| Carlos: All right. So, let’s learn how to conjugate these bad boys. |
| Dylan: Carlos, muy, muy fácil. |
| Carlos: Says you. |
| Dylan: For real. |
| Carlos: Okay. So, let’s have it. |
| Dylan: “Tratar”. |
| Carlos: “To try.” |
| Dylan: “Yo trataba”. |
| Carlos: “I was trying.” |
| Dylan: “Tú tratabas”. |
| Carlos: “You were trying.” |
| Dylan: “Él trataba”. |
| Carlos: “He was trying.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros tratábamos”. |
| Carlos: “We were trying.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros tratabais”. |
| Carlos: “You all were trying.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos trataban”. |
| Carlos: “They were trying.” You know, Dylan, how about some examples with “tratar” in the Imperfect Tense? |
| Dylan: Since you ask nicely… |
| Carlos: Cool. |
| Dylan: “Trataba de decirte que ella era hombre, pero no me creíste”. |
| Carlos: “I was trying.” Wait. “I was try”… |
| Dylan: You were trying to translate. Here. “I was trying to tell you that she’s a man, but you didn’t believe me.” |
| Carlos: Well, that’s nasty. Yes, no comment, no comment. I am not doing talking about that. Let’s move on. |
| Dylan: That sounded like a comment. “Tratábamos de llegar a tiempo, pero no pudimos”. |
| Carlos: You know, I even am not trying for that last one. |
| Dylan: “We tried to arrive on time, but we were unable to.” |
| Carlos: “Tico” time, huh? |
| Dylan: Yes, “tico” time, exactly. |
| Carlos: Okay. Now, what about “saber”? |
| Dylan: “Saber”. |
| Carlos: “To know.” |
| Dylan: “Yo sabía”. |
| Carlos: “I knew.” |
| Dylan: “Tú sabías”. |
| Carlos: “You knew.” |
| Dylan: “Él sabía”. |
| Carlos: “He knew.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros sabíamos”. |
| Carlos: “We knew.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros sabíais”. |
| Carlos: “You all knew.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos sabían”. |
| Carlos: “They knew.” Okay. Now, what about “saber” in the Imperfect Tense? |
| Dylan: Are you kidding me? Have a catalogue of examples. |
| Carlos: Where do you? Like, what kind of paper is it printed on the list though? |
| Dylan: “Sabía que ibas a decirme eso”. |
| Carlos: “I knew you were going to say that to me.” |
| Dylan: Nicely done. |
| Carlos: Oh, but my brain hurts. |
| Dylan: Okay. Here’s another one. “No sabían a qué hora iba a empezar la fiesta”. |
| Carlos: “We didn’t know what time the party was going to start.”? Well, I’ll just try my luck with one more. |
| Dylan: All right. “Decir”. |
| Carlos: “To say.” |
| Dylan: “Yo decía”. |
| Carlos: “I used to say.” |
| Dylan: “Tú decías”. |
| Carlos: “You used to say.” |
| Dylan: “Él decía”. |
| Carlos: “He used to say.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros decíamos”. |
| Carlos: “We used to say.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros decíais”. |
| Carlos: “You all used to say.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos decían”. |
| Carlos: “They used to say.” |
| Dylan: Let’s finish this off. Let’s put “decir” in context with some examples of it in the Imperfect Tense. |
| Carlos: Sure, why not? |
| Dylan: “Mi abuela siempre decía ‘donde comen dos, comen tres’”. – “My grandma always used to say where two people eat, three people eat.” |
| Carlos: What does that mean? Like, seriously? |
| Dylan: Not surely, but she liked to say it. |
| Carlos: No, but like, I don’t understand. Like, where two people eat, three people eat. I just… |
| Dylan: Yes, it’s like if there’s food for two, there’s food for three. You can share, trick and share. |
| Carlos: That’s not true at all. If it’s a little food, you can’t like feed three people. All right. How about an example that makes a little more sense, not so abstract and why not? |
| Dylan: “¿Que me decías?” – “What were you saying?” |
| Carlos: I was saying that your last example made no sense or what so ever. Oh, wait. That was your example. |
| Dylan: That is an example. “¿Que me decías?” |
| Carlos: Okay. Thank you. |
Outro |
| Dylan: You noticed the difference, Carlitos? |
| Carlos: ¡Sí, profe! |
| Dylan: Good. Because you know there’s a quiz. |
| Carlos: Lucky for me I have premium membership. So, I have access to premium audio. Sweet! |
| Dylan: Isn’t that free for you since you’re an employee? |
| Carlos: Exactly. That’s the luck aspect. |
| Dylan: I see. |
| Carlos: No, I’m telling you. The Learning Center has answered many, many, many questions for me. |
| Dylan: That’s great for you. But, what about our audience? |
| Carlos: Well, they’re welcomed to ask us questions in the forum or to post a comment. We’re always there. |
| Dylan: You need to get out more. |
| Carlos: You think I don’t know that? |
| Dylan: Okay. Let’s close it up for today. |
| Carlos: Fine with me. See you later, everyone! |
| Dylan: ¡Hasta luego! |
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