Verbs That Change Meaning in
the Preterite and the Imperfect
Page 90 – Chapter 2
Realidades 3
Verbs That Change in Meaning
from Preterite to Imperfect Tenses
• A few Spanish verbs have different
meanings in the imperfect and the
preterite tenses:
• SABER
• CONOCER
• QUERER
• NO QUERER
• PODER
SABER
• Imperfect – “knew”
• ¿Sabías que el concierto empezaba
tarde?
• Did you know that the concert began late?
• Preterite – “found out, learned”
• Sí, supe ayer que empezaba tarde.
• Yes, I found out that it began late.
CONOCER
• Imperfect – “knew (somebody)”
• Pedro conocía muy bien a esa actriz.
• Pedro knew that actress very well.
• Preterite – “met (somebody) for the first
time”
• Luis la conoció el año pasado.
• Luis met her last year.
QUERER
• Imperfect – “wanted to”
• Luis quería comprar las entradas hoy.
• Luis wanted to buy the tickets today.
• Preterite – “tried to, attempted to”
• Yo quise comprarlas, pero me enfermé.
• I tried to buy them but I got sick.
NO QUERER
• Imperfect – “didn’t want to”
• No querían ver esa obra de teatro.
• They didn’t want to see that play.
• Preterite – “refused to”
• No quisieron ver esa obra de teatro.
• They refused to see that play.
PODER
• Imperfect – “was able to, could”
• Ella podía aprender la letra de la canción.
• She was able to learn the letter of the song.
• Preterite – “managed to, succeeded in”
• Ella pudo aprender la letra de esa canción.
• She succeeded in learning the letter of that
song.