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Preterit and Imperfect Tenses Compared
1. The preterit is used to indicate the beginning or the end of an action or even occurring
in the past. It may also indicate the complete event (both beginning and end).
2. The imperfect is used to indicate the continuance of a situation or even in the past.
Neither the beginning nor the end is indicated. Thus, it is used:
a. To express what was happening, used to happen, or happened repeatedly in the
past.
b. To describe persons, things, or situations in the past.
c. To express the time of day in the past
d. In the construction hacía + time expression + que + imperfect, to describe an
action or event that began in the pst and continued in the past. In questions, how
long is expressed by ¿Cuánto timepo hacía que… + imperfect.
e. With the preterit, to describe what was going on in the past (imperfect) when
another action or event occurred, that is, began or ended (preterit).
Preterit= you did
Imperfect= you had the ability to
The Subjunctive (Pages 155-174)
The subjunctive mood, on the other hand, expresses uncertainty, doubt, wished, desires, fears,
conjecture, supposition, and conditions that are unreal or contrary to fact.
[1] The Present Tense Subjunctive
a. Regular Verbs
Most verbs form the present tense subjunctive by dropping the ending of
the yo form of the present indicative (-o) and adding the corresponding
endings.
bailar
(bailo)
vender
(vendo)
recibir
(recibo)
yo baile venda reciba
tù bailes vendas recibas
ud., el, ella baile venda reciba
nosotros, -as bailemos vendamos recibamos
uds., ellos, ellas bailen vendan reciban
b. Verbs with Irregular yo Forms
Verbs with regular yo forms in the present tense indicative used the same
irregular stem to form the present tense subjunctive.
caber
to fit in
coger
gather
conocer
to know
destruir
to destroy
distinguir
to distinguish
salir
to leave
venir
to come
quepo cojo conozco destruyo distingo salgo vengo
yo quepa coja conzca destruya distinga salga venga
tù quepas cojas conozcas destruyas distingas salgas vengas
ud., el, ella quepa coja conozca destruya distinga salga venga
nosotros, -as quepamos cojamos conozcamos destruyamos distingamos salgamos vengamos
uds., ellos, ellas quepan cojan conozcan destruyan distingan salgan vengan
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