Event or background?
Spanish has two past tenses for telling things. The choice does not depend on when something happened, but on how you look at it: as a finished event, or as the background that was running.
This is the hard part for English speakers, because the English simple past does both jobs. I played football can mean one game or years of Sunday afternoons. Spanish makes you pick a side with every past verb.
What your English sentence tells you
| English | Usually | Example |
|---|---|---|
| past progressive | Imperfecto | trabajaba |
| habit in the past | Imperfecto | trabajaba |
| simple past, one occasion | Indefinido | trabajé |
Look at how you could say it in English
The test points one way: was -ing and used to usually mean Imperfecto. When only the simple past fits, ask yourself: finished or in progress?
Indefinido - the finished event
When to use the Indefinido
A single, completed event
The beginning or the end of an action
A chain of actions – what happened next
A stated, closed period of time, even a long one
Ayer fui al médico.
Yesterday I went to the doctor.
La película empezó a las ocho.
The film started at eight.
Primero comí y luego salí.
First I ate and then I went out.
Imperfecto - the running background
When to use the Imperfecto
A habit or something repeated (English used to, would)
Description and state – people, weather, age, the time of day, feelings
An action in progress, often with mientras (English was -ing)
De niño iba al cine todos los domingos.
As a child I used to go to the cinema every Sunday.
El restaurante estaba lleno.
The restaurant was full.
Mientras yo cocinaba, mi padre veía la tele.
While I was cooking, my father was watching TV.
Signal words
Time expressions give a hint, but they do not decide alone: Ayer hacía frío is correct, because it describes.
Mostly Indefinido
Mostly Imperfecto
Same verb, different angle
Imperfecto (background)
De niño jugaba al fútbol.
As a child I used to play football.
Vivía en Madrid.
I was living in Madrid (back then).
Llovía mucho.
It was raining hard.
Indefinido (event)
Ayer jugué al fútbol.
Yesterday I played football (one game).
Viví en Madrid dos años.
I lived in Madrid for two years (and then I didn't).
Ayer llovió mucho.
Yesterday it rained a lot (that's over now).
English translates both the same way
I lived in Madrid is a good translation of both vivía and viví, so translating cannot decide for you. A stated boundary (for two years, until 2019) points to the Indefinido; an open situation points to the Imperfecto.
Both tenses in one sentence
The classic combination: the Imperfecto sets the scene that was already running, and the Indefinido drops the event into it. English does the same with I was cooking when the phone rang, only Spanish marks it with tenses instead of the progressive.
Cuando llegué a casa, mi madre cocinaba.
When I got home, my mother was cooking.
llegué = the event (Indefinido), cocinaba = the scene already running (Imperfecto)
Mientras estudiaba, sonó el teléfono.
While I was studying, the phone rang.
estudiaba = action in progress, sonó = the interruption
Hacía frío, por eso cerré la ventana.
It was cold, so I closed the window.
hacía = the state, cerré = the event
conocer and saber change meaning
With these two verbs English uses two different verbs. The Indefinido marks the moment it started, the Imperfecto the state itself.
| Verb | Indefinido (it started) | Imperfecto (the state) |
|---|---|---|
| conocer | Ayer conocí a tu hermano. (met) | Ya conocía a tu hermano. (knew) |
| saber | Ayer supe la noticia. (found out) | Ya sabía la noticia. (knew) |
