Pretérito Confusión

AlastairB2Kwiziq community member

Pretérito Confusión

This is more of a complaint that a question. There is confusion in tense nomenclature. What is often referred to here as Pretérito Perfecto is really Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto.  

The Pretérito Perfecto Simple is referred to Pretérito Indefinido.  The action in the Pretérito Perfecto Simple has definitely been "perfected".   When doing quizzes quickly I often make a mistake when the Pretérito Perfecto is asked for. It would be nice if a uniform terminology were used in the teaching of Spanish

Asked 1 year ago
InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hola Alastair (and David)

As David said, there are different names for Spanish tenses. This is why we have in our site this table with all possible terms to refer to each tense, both in Spain and Latin America.

In Kwiziq ee generally refer to the Simple Past as Pretérito Indefinido, and to the Present Perfect as Pretérito Perfecto. 

Saludos cordiales

Inma

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Yes, it is true that there are different 'conventions' for naming the various past-tense forms. Of course, Kwiziq is not to blame for this confusion.

But it would be helpful to compile a list of all the options found in grammar books.

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

My personal favourite for the 'Perfect' tense [i.e., the construction using 'have' + Past Participle] - is to refer to it as the "antepresente", because it always implies some sort of link to the Present.

Pretérito Confusión

This is more of a complaint that a question. There is confusion in tense nomenclature. What is often referred to here as Pretérito Perfecto is really Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto.  

The Pretérito Perfecto Simple is referred to Pretérito Indefinido.  The action in the Pretérito Perfecto Simple has definitely been "perfected".   When doing quizzes quickly I often make a mistake when the Pretérito Perfecto is asked for. It would be nice if a uniform terminology were used in the teaching of Spanish

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your Spanish level for FREE

Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard

Find your Spanish level
Let me take a look at that...