To talk about actions that took place in the past we can use both El Pretérito Imperfecto and El Pretérito Indefinido.
Which one you need to use depends on whether you (or the speaker) consider the beginning and end of the action, or if you consider the action to be completed. This can be tricky for English speakers to understand because both tenses are usually translated the same in English.
Let's have a look at these examples:
In the first example where El Pretérito Imperfecto is used (abría) we can visualize a door in the process of being opened however in the second example where El Pretérito Indefinido is used, we can see a completely open door.
So the main difference between using these two tenses is:
El Pretérito Imperfecto for actions in the past with no clear beginning and end.
El Pretérito Indefinido for actions in the past with a clear beginning and end.
Have a look at other examples in both tenses:
Trabajaba = we can see Susana working.
Trabajó = we can see Susana when she finished her work.
Los chicos corrían por los pasillos haciendo ruido.
The boys ran along the corridors making noise.
Los chicos corrieron por los pasillos haciendo ruido.
The boys ran along the corridors making noise.
Corrían = we can see the boys running.
Corrieron = we see the empty corridors after the boys ran.
Antonio comía un bocadillo a mediodía.
Antonio had a sandwich at midday.
Antonio comió un bocadillo a mediodía.
Antonio had a sandwich at midday.
Comía = we can see Antonio eating his sandwich.
Comió = we can see Antonio throwing his sandwich wrapper away.
See also Using El Imperfecto vs El indefinido (time markers).
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
La profesora abría la puerta.
The teacher opened the door.
Antonio comió un bocadillo a mediodía.
Antonio had a sandwich at midday.
Los chicos corrieron por los pasillos haciendo ruido.
The boys ran along the corridors making noise.
Antonio comía un bocadillo a mediodía.
Antonio had a sandwich at midday.
Los chicos corrían por los pasillos haciendo ruido.
The boys ran along the corridors making noise.
Susana trabajó muy duro.
Susana worked very hard.
La profesora abrió la puerta.
The teacher opened the door.
Susana trabajaba muy duro.
Susana worked very hard.
Q&A
Nicole
Kwiziq community member
9 June 2019
1 reply
Kudos
Inma, I just wanted to say that this lesson is the best on the subject. No other place have I heard/seen the reference of "seeing the .......". This really helped me a lot to "get" these very interesting tenses. Thank you for sharing your insight/knowledge with us and your patience!
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
10/06/19
Gracias Nicole. It is a tricky one...
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
29/05/18
Hola Johathan
That is a very good point. You could also use that theory to explain the difference but there are more tenses involved in that, for example, for the "was opening" sentence we'd probably use "estaba abriendo" as well as "abría", and "abrió"(opened) is not the same as "había abierto"(had opened). What we want to emphasise in this lesson is that in English the imperfect (abría) and the indefinido (abrió) are both translated as "opened", whereas in Spanish there is the nuance of an action with a beginning and an end or not.
Saludos, Inma
Margaret
Kwiziq community member
10/09/18
Thank you Inma..I think I'm starting to get it!
Saludos, Margaret
Laura
Kwiziq community member
9 June 2019
0 replies
I'm sorry but I still don't get it. Are there longer examples in Spanish that could illustrate this? I feel like I still wouldn't know when to use