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Summary Spanish tenses
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Difference between Spanish tenses
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¿Imperfecto, indefinido o pretérito perfecto?➢ Imperfecto para describir el pasado:
(to describe the past)
Con el Imperfecto nos situamos “dentro” de un hecho pasado y
descubrimos un proceso no terminado “allí”.
(With the imperfect we situate ourselves "inside" a past fact and
discover an unfinished process "there")
Por ejemplo:
Llovía mucho aquel día. (It rained a lot that day)
→ Proceso no terminado “allí” (unfinished process “there”)
(It didn’t stop raining that day, therefore we use the Imperfect to
express an unfinished process “there”)
➢ Indefinido para contar el pasado:
(to tell the past)
Con el Indefinido nos situamos “después” de un hecho pasado y
contamos un acto o un proceso terminado “allí”.
(With the Indefinido we situate ourselves "after" a past fact and we
tell an act or a finished process "there")
Por ejemplo:
Llovió mucho aquel día. (It rained a lot that day)
→Proceso terminado “allí” (finished process “there”)
(It rained for a while that day and then it stopped, therefore we use
the Indefinido to express a finished process “there”)
,A-Describir situaciones momentáneas (imperfecto) o contar
hechos completos (indefinidos)
➢ Con el Imperfecto presentamos un hecho como no terminado
todavía en un momento específico del pasado.
Describimos una situación momentánea.
(With the Imperfect we present a fact as not yet finished at a
specific moment of the past. We describe a momentary situation.)
Por ejemplo:
Ayer, a las cinco, todavía estaba estudiando.
(Yesterday, at five, I was still studying)
Cuando bajaba las escaleras, me encontré una maleta.
(While I was going down the stairs, I found a suitcase)
➢ Con el Indefinido presentamos ese proceso como ya terminado
en aquel momento.
Contamos un hecho completo.
(With the Indefinido we present that process as already finished at
that moment. We tell a complete fact)
Por ejemplo:
Ayer estuve estudiando hasta las siete.
(Yesterday I was studying until seven)
Cuando bajé las escaleras, me encontré una maleta.
(When I went down the stairs, I found a suitcase)
,B- Procesos completos (Indefinido) y partes de un proceso
(Imperfecto)
➢ Podemos hablar de procesos breves (comerse un bocadillo) o
más largos (estudiar Medicina durante cinco años). La duración no
importa. (We can talk about short [eating a sandwich] or long
[studying Medicine for 5 years] processes. Duration does not
matter.
Procesos breves Procesos largos (long
(short processes)
processes)
Proceso completo: Me comí el Juan José estuvo
nos situamos bocadillo en tres estudiando Medicina
“después” de ese minutos (I ate the cinco años (Juan José
proceso y usamos sandwich in three studied Medicine for five
Indefinido. minutes). years).
(Complete
process: we sitúate
ourselves “after”
that process and
we use Indefinido).
Parte de un A la 1:07 estaba En 1998 estaba
proceso: nos comiéndome un estudiando Medicina (In
situamos “dentro” bocadillo (At 1998 I was studying
de ese proceso y 1:07pm I was Medicine).
usamos eating a
Imperfecto. (Part of sandwich).
a process: we
situate ourselves
“inside” of that
process and we
use Imperfecto)
Por esta razón, cuando nos referimos a la duración total de un
proceso (en una hora, durante tres años, toda la tarde, dos días,
hasta las 7, tres veces, mucho tiempo, etc.), usamos Indefinido, y
no Imperfecto. (For this reason, when we refer to the total
duration of a process (in one hour, for three years, all afternoon,
two days, until 7, three times, a lot of time, etc.), we use Indefinido,
not Imperfecto .
, Por ejemplo:
Ayer trabajé todo el día. (Yesterday I worked all day)
Anoche estuvimos jugando hasta muy tarde. (Last night we were
playing until very late)
Estuvo en el hospital tres meses. (She/he was in hospital for 3
months)
C- Cualidades estáticas (Imperfecto) y cualidades dinámicas
(Indefinido)
➢ Cuando nos referimos a las cualidades o características estáticas
de un objeto, recuperamos del pasado una imagen y
descubrimos cómo era ese objeto (When we refer to the static
qualities or characteristics of an object, we recover an image from
the past and discover what that object was like).
Cualidades estáticas: objetos
(Static qualities: objects)
Una chica preciosa.
(a beautiful girl)
• La chica que conocí ayer era preciosa.
(The girl that I met yesterday was beautiful)
➢ Cuando nos referimos a las cualidades o características dinámicas
de un proceso, recuperamos del pasado una secuencia de
imágenes de principio a fin y contamos cómo fue ese proceso.
(When we refer to the dynamic qualities or characteristics of a
process, we recover from the past a sequence of images from
beginning to end and tell how that process was.)
Cualidades dinámicas: procesos
Una fiesta preciosa.
(a beautiful party)
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