el pretérito
un vistazo al tiempo, su mecánica y aplicación!
WHY 2 tenses?
Spanish has 2 sets of past tenses, the preterite and the imperfect. The preterite is used to describe those actions whose completion you can clearly see in your mind's eye (like the turning on or off of a light switch, or the snapping of a pencil). Tips for preterite:
- there are MANY irregulars, check this presentation from spanishdict: https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/spanish-preterite-tense-forms
- sometimes we can use "buzz words" to help us identify the opportunity to use preterite: https://www.spanish.academy/blog/18-preterite-trigger-words-in-spanish-for-conversations-in-past-tense/
- quantity of time, duration of time and the start or end point of any action will indicate use for preterite.