SPANISH 2 Chapter 5A Test Notes
IMPERFECT vs. PRETERITE: When talking or writing about the past in Spanish, we learned that there
are two types of past tense: imperfect and preterite. You will need to refer to the sheet that was given out in
class to help you distinguish when to use the imperfect and preterite because on the test, you will have to
CHOOSE the correct verb. You will not have to conjugate the verbs in this section, only choose between
imperfect and preterite.

había (imperfect) = there was or there were - used when describing a scene in the past

hubo (preterite) = there was or there were - used to talk about an even that happened

When describing what time it was when something happened, use the verb SER in the imperfect
(either era or eran).

When describing what the weather was like when something happened in the past, use the imperfect
(sometimes used with hacía such as “hacía sol,” “hacía frío,” “hacía,” “calor,” etc.)

Some verbs often used in the imperfect for feelings or physical/mental state are:
o estar – to be
o parecer – to seem
o sentirse – to feel
o tener (calor, frío, sed, hambre, sueño, # años)
o pensar – to think
o querer – to want
o saber – to know