Grammar Archives - Page 8 of 8 - Tell Me In Spanish

Without doubt one of the biggest challenges you have to face in Spanish is to learn how to use the past tenses correctly. At this point, you might know that the Imperfect and the Past tense are as painful as 'Ser' and 'Estar'. Saying that you use the Imperfect tense to describe continuous actions or to express that they don't have a definite beginning or ending, it's actually very confusing and it's not good enough. In this post, we compiled 10 keys that will help you understand when to use the Imperfect in Spanish. By the end of it, you will be able to talk about the past with more confidence. 1. Talking about Habits and Routines in Past Although it's true that the Spanish Imperfect expresses continuous actions in the past or events whose beginning and end are not definitive, this definition can be very confusing for non-native speakers. After all, since we are talking about the past it's easy to assume that the action ended. An easy way to understand this is thinking about the habits and routines you used to have. When talking about habits and routines we use Imperfect because: Our habits and routines were continuous in the past: we did them many times for a long period of time.This habits and routines don't have a specific beginning or end: do you remember the exact date when you start playing with your friends after school? Do you remember the exact date when you stopped doing that? Here is an example of habits and routines in the past. Notice that all the verbs are in Imperfect. When using Imperfect to describe habits and routines in the past, it's like saying 'I used to'. SpanishEnglishCuando era niña, me despertaba todos los días a las 7 para ir a la escuela y regresaba a casa a la 1. When I was a kid, I used to wake up every day to go to school and I went back home at 1. Después de comer, mis hermanos y yo jugábamos unas horas y, entonces, hacíamos nuestra tarea. After eating, my brothers and I played for a few hours and, then, we started our homework. Cuando terminábamos de cenar, veíamos televisión con mis papás y, después, nos íbamos a dormir. When we finished dinner, we watched TV with my parents and we went to bed. Remember, every time you want to talk about the habits and routines you or somebody else had, you need to use Imperfect. 2. Telling a Story in Past: Creating the Background Everybody knows that a good story requires details. Although these details can help you to recreate the background of the story and have a better experience, they don't affect the main actions. In Spanish, when creating that background, you need to use Imperfect and, as mentioned before, this information is meant to give a better understanding of the story's circumstances. So what are those details we are looking for? It can be anything that helps you create the ambiance of your history, such as the time the event happens, the clothes you were wearing, the weather, the smells, etc. Let's see this use in action. Remember that the main actions are going to be in Preterite. Spanish - ImperfectoEnglish - Past TenseAyer fui a caminar al parque. Eran las 9 de la noche y la ciudad estaba muy tranquila. No había mucha gente en el parque y el clima era muy agradable. Olía a lluvia y no podía ver muy bien porque no había mucha luz. Last night I went to the park for a walk. It was 9pm and the city was very quiet. There were not many people at the park and the weather was nice. It smelled like rain and I couldn't see very well because the light was poor. As you can see in this example, most of the content has one purpose: setting the scene, so you have a better idea of the things I saw and felt in the park. In this situation, you can picture the Imperfect as one of those long movies or books with a lot of descriptions. Use Imperfect when you want to set the background of your story. Remember these are details and if you removed them you wouldn't affect the main actions. 3. Describing People, Objects, Feelings, and Customs in Past We already established that when talking about your routines and setting the scene for a story in the past, you need to use Imperfect. The same happens when you want to describe people, objects, feelings, and customs. Keep in mind that when using Imperfect and these situations there is no time limit (we don't say when things ended). Let's an example. SpanishEnglishMi abuela era una mujer bajita y amable. Vivía en una casa pequeña y tenía un perro que me daba mucho miedo. Cuando iba a visitarla, me hacía mis platillos favoritos. Su casa era color azul y tenía dos patios en lo que mis primos y yo podíamos jugar. My grandmother was a short and nice woman. She lived in a small house and had a scary dog. When I visited her, she used to prepare all my favorite dishes. Her house was blue and she had two yards where my cousins and I used to play. When describing feelings with Imperfect, you are implying that that state didn't change for a long while. After all, it's very hard to determine the date when a feeling is gone. Mi abuela siempre estaba triste. Extrañaba a mi abuelo My grandmother was always sad. She missed my grandfather 20 ago.... One thing that can be very confusing is that many new Spanish speakers learn that the Imperfect talks about events that don't have a specific beginning or end. We already saw in some examples that this true. But it's also true that in some situations you are going to use specific dates and Imperfect. Why? Because you are describing customs and even if you have a specific date these events happened for a long while in the past (they were continuous). SpanishEnglish1. Hace 20 años no había tantos carros y la contaminación no era un problema tan grande. 2. En los años 60 había muchas protestas y los jóvenes escuchaban rock. 1. 20 years ago there weren't many cars and the pollution wasn't such a big problem. 2. In the 60's there were many protests and young people used to like rock and roll. 4. Telling the Time and your Age in Past Many new Spanish speakers tend to make the mistake to use Preterite when telling the time and their age. However, we use Imperfect in these cases. Think about it this way: telling the time is very similar to giving details or setting the scene for the information you want to share. Era la 1pm cuando me fui It's 1 pm when I left Eran las 3 cuando hablé con ella It's 3 when I talked to her Although you might feel tempted to use Preterite to tell your age, we always use Imperfect for that situation. ¿Cuántos años tenías en 1980? How old you were in 1980? Tenía 20 años cuando compré mi primer carro I was 20 years old when I bought my first car 5. Being Polite There are many ways to be polite in Spanish. Although the Conditional tense is considered grammatically correct for polite expressions, in verbal Spanish people also use the Imperfect tense. Buscaba una bolsa azul I was looking for a blue bag Quería pedirte un favor I wanted to ask you a favor It's very likely that you learned the Conditional as a way to be polite, but using the Imperfect would make you sound like a native speaker. 6. Indirect Speech: Repeating Somebody's Words Even if you think you don't know what's the Indirect Speech, you use it all the time. Basically, Indirect Speech is repeating what others told you. When doing so, you change the verb tenses to mark that repetition. In Spanish, we use the Imperfect tense in Indirect Speech. Direct SpeechIndirect Speech1. Tengo hambre (I'm hungry)2. Soy tu papá (I'm your father)3. Estoy enojada (I'm upset)1. Dijo que tenía hambre (She said she was hungry2. Dijo que era mi papá (He said he was my father)3. Dijo que estaba enojada (She said she was angry) Notice a few things: the examples on the Direct Speech Table are in Present. When using Indirect Speech we start with Preterite to introduce what other people said (me dijo) and we use Imperfect to repeat their actual words. 7. Talking about Intentions As you know, the Imperfect tense is also used to describe an action that wasn't completed in the past. Although this may seem hard to understand, the truth is that we all do actions and sometimes we don't complete them. We call them Intentions. So another use of the Imperfect in Spanish is talking about Intentions and even if you don't have this exact tense in English, you use past in this situation. Iba a llamarte ayer en la noche I was about to call you last night Quería ir a correr, pero estaba lloviendo I wanted to run but it was raining Usually, when talking about intentions, we use the verb 'Ir', 'Estar' and 'Querer' in their Imperfect form. 8. Simultaneous Actions in the Past As we mentioned before, when using the Imperfect in Spanish, most of the times it won't be clear when the action started or ended. This happens a lot when people are describing simultaneous actions that they did in the past. La maestra hablaba y nadie escuchaba The teacher was talking and nobody was listening Yo leía y mi hermano veía televisión I was reading and my brother was watching TV Ella lloraba y él solo la veía She was crying and he just saw her As you can see in these examples, the speaker doesn't say when these events happened, we just now that they took place at the same time. The important part here is that we use Imperfect to describe situations with people doing more than one action in the past. Think it this way: you're gone for a few hours and when you go back you want to know the things your friends were doing. SpanishIndirect Speech Ana miraba televisión mientras Carlos hablaba por teléfeno con su novia y, al mismo tiempo, Arturo lavaba los trastes. Ana was watching Tv while Carlos talks to his girlfriend and at the same time, Alan was washing the dishes 9. Telling Dreams Although this use is very similar to setting the scene or creating the background of a story, many non-native Spanish speakers confuse the past tenses when they talk about the things they dreamed. If you think about it telling a dream is exactly the same as telling a story: you need to give details so people can understand what you felt. SpanishEnglishAyer en la noche tuve una pesadilla. En mi sueño estaba perdido y no podía encontrar a alguien que me ayudara. Las casas y las tiendas estaban solas. No había luz en la calle y sentía que alguien me seguía. Last night I had a nightmare. In my dream, I was lost and I couldn't find somebody to help me. All the houses and stores were empty. There was no light on the street and I felt that somebody was following me. If by any chance you want to talk about the dreams or fantasies you had when you were little, you would also use imperfect. SpanishEnglishCuando era niño quería ser astronauta y soñaba con viajar a diferentes partes del mundo. When I was little I wanted to be an astronaut and I dreamed about traveling around the world. 10. Describing an Action's Circumstances Probably this is one of the most confusing uses of this tense in Spanish because it requires to use both Preterite and Imperfect. When talking about a past action in Spanish, many non-native speakers get confused when they see something like this: Rompí una taza cuando lavaba los trastes I broke a cup when I was washing the dishes In this type of sentences, you might see two actions: breaking the cup and washing the dishes. Things start to complicate when you have to decide if you need to use Imperfect or Preterite. However, in this type of sentences we are doing exactly the same thing we have been doing in this post: describing and giving some extra information. When you have both Preterite and Imperfect in one sentence, the purpose of the Imperfect verb is to describe the circumstances that surrounded the main action. If you remove 'cuando lavaba los trastes', we still know that you broke a cup. That part of the sentences is just giving me some context. Hacía frío cuando me desperté It was cold when I woke up Llovía muy fuerte cuando fui a la tienda It was raining very hard when I went to the store When using this type the sentences keep in mind that the Imperfect is giving you details but it's not the main action. Time Markers: Expressions you Use with Imperfect Tense Although the Imperfect tense can be really complicated to understand, there are some expressions that we use with this tense. Knowing the will allow you to choose better. Don't forget that even if these time markers can be helpful, the most important thing is to understand when to use the Imperfect. En ese tiempo During that time En aquella época At that time Todos los días Every dayA veces Sometimes Siempre Always Todos los verano All the summers Mientras In that time De vez en cuando Once in a while Generalmente Usually Rara vez Rarely Wrapping Up In this post, you learn 10 uses of the Imperfect in Spanish. Now you know that this tense not only describes ongoing events and in the past. Just remember that if you want to give descriptions or more details about the past, then you use Imperfect. Hopefully, this list will give more confidence in using this tense in Spanish.