Sunday, March 21, 2010

Preterite Vs. Imperfect!!!

The Spanish language has two tenses: Preterite and Imperfect.
In spanish there are verbs that end in -ar, -er, and -ir.
To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, you drop the -ar and simply add one of these endings:

-aste

-amos
-asteis
-aron
To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect, you drop the -ar and add one of these endings:
-aba
-abas
-aba
-ábamos
-abais
-aban

The preterite from is used for actions in the past that are completed. While imperfect is used for actions in the past that are not completed.

Preterite:
- Emily rode in her hovercraft from 1 pm to 3 pm.
-(This sentence has a clear beginning and end.)
Imperfect:
- Her friends used to ride with her.
- (This sentence has no definite beginning or end.)