Learn about the three key past tenses in Spanish: pretérito imperfecto, pretérito indefinido, and pretérito perfecto. This lesson explains their uses with examples, helping you express habitual past actions, completed past events, and recent actions with present relevance accurately.
| Tiempo verbal (Verbal tense) | Regla (Rule) | Ejemplo (Example) |
|---|---|---|
| Pretérito imperfecto | Acciones en progreso o habituales en el pasado (Actions in progress or habitual in the past) | Cuando era joven, el presidente gobernaba con su ministro. (When I was young, the president governed with his minister.) |
| Pretérito indefinido | Acciones completadas en el pasado (Completed actions in the past) | En 2010, la princesa visitó el parlamento. (In 2010, the princess visited the parliament.) |
| Pretérito perfecto | Acciones pasadas que afectan el presente (Past actions that affect the present) | Esta semana, he votado en las elecciones del gobierno. (This week, I have voted in the government elections.) |
Exercise 1: Los tiempos del pasado (resumen)
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
hemos reservado, elegí, votaron, fuimos, Visité, trabajaba, votaba, votabas
1.
Votar:
Tú ... cada año en las elecciones.
(You used to vote every year in the elections.)
2.
Elegir:
El año pasado, ... a mi representante en el parlamento.
(Last year, I elected my representative in parliament.)
3.
Ir:
Nosotros ... a la sede electoral el domingo pasado.
(We went to the polling station last Sunday.)
4.
Trabajar:
El gobierno ... todos los días para el país.
(The government worked every day for the country.)
5.
Votar:
Cuando era joven, ... por diferentes partidos políticos.
(When I was young, I used to vote for different political parties.)
6.
Visitar (yo):
... varias oficinas electorales en la ciudad la semana pasada.
(I visited several electoral offices in the city last week.)
7.
Votar:
Ellos ... en las últimas elecciones.
(They voted in the last elections.)
8.
Reservar (nosotros):
Hoy, ... el lugar para votar.
(Today, we have booked the place to vote.)
Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct sentence that properly uses one of the past tenses in Spanish (imperfect past, simple past, present perfect), taking into account the context and the meaning of the past action.
1.
Error: 'went young' indicates a punctual action, not habitual. Here the imperfect past must be used to describe a habitual state.
Error: the simple past expresses a punctual and completed action, but the phrase wants to indicate a habitual state in the past.
2.
Although grammatically correct, to emphasize a recent action it is more usual to use the present perfect with unfinished time expressions, such as 'this week'.
Error: the imperfect past is not used for punctual actions in a defined past time such as 'last week'.
3.
Error: the present perfect is not used with time markers that indicate a finished past time, such as 'in 2010'.
Error: the imperfect past indicates habitual or ongoing actions, not a punctual and completed action on a specific date.
4.
Error: the present perfect is not used to describe habitual facts in past periods already finished.
Error: the simple past indicates a punctual action, whereas here a habit or repetition is intended to be expressed.