Comparative Grammar 4.2. Past Tense: Preterite vs Imperfect in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages, we study the past tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French, in particular the preterite vs the imperfect.

Table of Contents

• Uses of the Preterite vs the Imperfect
• Conjugation of the Preterite vs the Imperfect
  • Preterite Tense
  • Imperfect Tense
• Examples
• General Rules
• Comparing the Present to the Past
• Expressing Past Intention using the Imperfect
• Level IV – Intermediate

In Spanish and Portuguese, the tense that often corresponds to the simple past tense in English is called the preterite tense. In Italian and French, the present perfect tense covers both the present perfect and the simple past tenses in English, that is, “I spoke” and “I have spoken” are both translated to the same tense in Italian and French. In French, this tense is also called the composite past.

The past absolute tense in Italian and the simple past tense in French are equivalent to the preterite tense in Spanish and Portuguese. However, they are considered more formal and are less used in common-day language. The present perfect tense is often used instead in daily life in Italian and French. We will cover the most important aspects of the past absolute tense in Italian and the simple past tense in French in Level V, Lesson 2.

In addition to the preterite tense (in Spanish and Portuguese) and the present perfect tense (in Italian and French), there is another past tense that is used to talk about habits, actions, and descriptions in the past. This tense is called the imperfect indicative tense. This tense is often translated as in the example “I used to speak” or “I would speak”

In Portuguese, the present perfect tense is used to describe repeated actions in the past that extend to the present. It is more like the present perfect continuous tense in English, e.g., “I have been working hard.” The present perfect tense in English is often mapped into the preterite tense in Portuguese.

	“I have spoken”	“I spoke”	“I used to speak” or “I would speak”
SP	present perfect “yo hé hablado”	preterite “yo hablé”	imperfect “yo hablaba”
PT	preterite “eu falei”		imperfect “eu falava”
IT	present perfect “io ho parlato”		imperfect “io parlavo”
FR	present perfect “j’ai parlé”		imperfect “je parlais”

Uses of the Preterite vs the Imperfect

1. Completed actions that have definite beginning and end points, usually identified by expressions such as: “yesterday,” “last night,” “last week,” “in 1852,” etc.
2. Actions which lasted a defined duration of time, usually identified by expressions such as: “for two hours,” “all night,” “three times,” “from one to three o’clock,” “the other day,” etc.

On the other hand, we use the imperfect tense in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French to describe:

1. Habits in the past, e.g., “I used to play volleyball when I was young.”
2. Description of people, places, and objects in the past, e.g., “Da Vinci was a famous painter and scientist.”
3. Time and age in the past, e.g., “When I was 15 years old, I lived in a village.”
4. Actions that were continuously happening when another action interrupted in the past, e.g., “While you were studying, I was watching TV.”

Conjugation of the Preterite vs the Imperfect

Before diving into examples, let us look at the conjugation of the preterite and the imperfect.

Preterite Tense

Regular verbs in the preterite are conjugated as follows:

– In Spanish:

	-ar ending hablar	-er ending comer	-ir ending vivir
yo	hablé	comí	viví
tú	hablaste	comiste	viviste
él/ella/usted	habló	comió	vivió
nosotros/-as	hablamos	comimos	vivimos
vosotros/-as	hablasteis	comisteis	vivisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablaron	comieron	vivieron

Notice that the “nosotros/-as” conjugation is the same as that of the present tense, e.g., “nosotros hablamos” can mean “we speak” or “we spoke,” depending on the context.

There are quite a few verbs that are irregular in the preterite tense. The following are among the most important irregular verbs:

	ser	ir	dar	tener	estar	hacer
yo	fui	fui	di	tuve	estuve	hice
tú	fuiste	fuiste	diste	tuviste	estuviste	hiciste
él/ella/usted	fue	fue	dio	tuvo	estuvo	hizo
nosotros/-as	fuimos	fuimos	dimos	tuvimos	estuvimos	hicimos
vosotros/-as	fuisteis	fuisteis	disteis	tuvisteis	estuvisteis	hicisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	fueron	fueron	dieron	tuvieron	estuvieron	hicieron

Notice that the verbs “ser” and “ir” have the same conjugation in the preterite. The verbs “ser,” “ir,” and “dar” have unique patterns of conjugation in the preterite and thus must be memorized. On the other hand, there are a few other irregular verbs that are conjugated in the preterite in a manner similar to “tener,” “estar,” and “hacer.”

In addition to the above irregular verbs in the preterite, there are a few more verbs and patterns that are useful to memorize. Use your Anki cards to practice more examples until you master this lesson. You can also use the summary in the cheat sheets in Appendix B as a quick reference.

A. Verbs ending in “-ducir” as well as “decir” and “traer”

Verbs ending in “-ducir” replace the “c” with “j” in their stem to form the preterite stem ending in “duj-.” The verbs “decir” and “traer” are treated similarly, and their stems are “dij-” and “traj-,” respectively. Notice also that the third-person plural form of these verbs ends in “-eron” instead of “-ieron.”

Examples of verbs in this category include: “traducir” (to translate), “producir” (to produce), “reducir” (to reduce), “conducir” (to drive), “introducir” (to introduce), “deducir” (to deduce), and “seducir” (to seduce).

	traducir	producir	reducir	decir	traer
yo	traduje	produje	reduje	dije	traje
tú	tradujiste	produjiste	redujiste	dijiste	trajiste
él/ella/usted	tradujo	produjo	redujo	dijo	trajo
nosotros/-as	tradujimos	produjimos	redujimos	dijimos	trajimos
vosotros/-as	tradujisteis	produjisteis	redujisteis	dijisteis	trajisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	tradujeron	produjeron	redujeron	dijeron	trajeron

B. Verbs “estar,” “tener,” and “andar”

The verbs “estar,” “tener,” and “andar” (to walk or to go) take the stems “estuv-,” “tuv-,” and “anduv-,” respectively.

	estar	tener	andar
yo	estuve	tuve	anduve
tú	estuviste	tuviste	anduviste
él/ella/usted	estuvo	tuvo	anduvo
nosotros/-as	estuvimos	tuvimos	anduvimos
vosotros/-as	estuvisteis	tuvisteis	anduvisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	estuvieron	tuvieron	anduvieron

C. Verbs that change the first vowel from “a” or “o” to “u”

The two verbs “haber” and “poder” take the stems “hub-” and “pud-,” respectively, whereas the verbs “poner,” “saber,” and “caber” (to fit) undergo an extra-letter change and take the stems “pus-,” “sup-,” and “cup-,” respectively.

	haber	poder	poner	saber	caber
yo	hube	pude	puse	supe	cupe
tú	hubiste	pudiste	pusiste	supiste	cupiste
él/ella/usted	hubo	pudo	puso	supo	cupo
nosotros/-as	hubimos	pudimos	pusimos	supimos	cupimos
vosotros/-as	hubisteis	pudisteis	pusisteis	supisteis	cupisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hubieron	pudieron	pusieron	supieron	cupieron

D. Verbs that change stem in the third-person forms

There are three groups in this category:

• Verbs that change “e” to “i” in the third-person singular and plural forms.

Examples of these verbs: “pedir” (to ask or request), “mentir” (to lie), “sentir” (to feel), “seguir” (to follow), “servir” (to serve), “hervir” (to boil), “preferir” (to prefer), “convertir” (to convert), “despedir” (to dismiss), “impedir” (to prevent), “divertirse” (to have fun), “sugerir” (to suggest), “vestirse” (to dress), “repetir” (to repeat), “reír” (to laugh), and “sonreír” (to smile). Notice that these verbs are all “-ir” verbs.

	pedir	mentir	seguir	preferir	reír
yo	pedí	mentí	seguí	preferí	reí
tú	pediste	mentiste	seguiste	preferiste	reíste
él/ella/usted	pidió	mintió	siguió	prefirió	rió
nosotros/-as	pedimos	mentimos	seguimos	preferimos	reímos
vosotros/-as	pedisteis	mentisteis	seguisteis	preferisteis	reísteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	pidieron	mintieron	siguieron	prefirieron	rieron

• Verbs that change “o” to “u” in the third-person singular and plural forms.

Examples of these verbs: “dormir” (to sleep) and “morir” (to die), which are also “-ir” verbs.

	dormir	morir
yo	dormí	morí
tú	dormiste	moriste
él/ella/usted	durmió	murió
nosotros/-as	dormimos	morimos
vosotros/-as	dormisteis	moristeis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	durmieron	murieron

• Verbs that change “e” or “i” to “y” in the third-person singular and plural forms.

Examples of these verbs: “caer” (to fall), “leer” (to read), “roer” (to nibble), “oír” (to hear), “influir” (to influence), and “concluir” (to conclude). Notice that if the final vowel of the stem is silent, this rule does not apply, e.g., “seguir” (to follow), “perseguir” (to chase or pursue), “conseguir” (to get).

	caer	leer	roer	oír	influir
yo	caí	leí	roí	oí	influí
tú	caíste	leíste	roíste	oíste	influiste
él/ella/usted	cayó	leyó	royó	oyó	influyó
nosotros/-as	caímos	leímos	roímos	oímos	influimos
vosotros/-as	caísteis	leísteis	roísteis	oísteis	influisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	cayeron	leyeron	royeron	oyeron	influyeron

The changes in the table above prevent the presence of three consecutive vowels, e.g., “cayó” (the “y” replaces “e,” preventing the presence of the three consecutive vowels “-aeo-”).

E. Verbs “venir,” “querer,” and “ver”

Finally, the verbs “venir” and “querer” take the stems “vin-” and “quis-,” respectively, whereas the verb “ver” does not follow a specific rule.

	ver	venir	querer
yo	vi	vine	quise
tú	viste	viniste	quisiste
él/ella/usted	vio	vino	quiso
nosotros/-as	vimos	vinimos	quisimos
vosotros/-as	visteis	vinisteis	quisisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	vieron	vinieron	quisieron

– In Portuguese:

	-ar ending e.g., falar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., partir
eu	falei	comi	parti
ele/ela/você	falou	comeu	partiu
nós	falamos	comemos	partimos
eles/elas/vocês	falaram	comeram	partiram

Notice that the “nós” conjugation is the same as that of the present tense, e.g., “nós comemos” can mean “we eat” or “we ate,” depending on the context.

The verbs “estar” (to be) and “dar” (to give) are the most common irregular “-ar” verbs, whereas the verbs “ir” (to go) and “vir” (to come) are the most common irregular “-ir” verbs. Most other common irregular verbs in the preterite belong to the “-er” group. Here is a list of the most common irregular verbs in the preterite:

	eu	ele/ela/você	nós	eles/elas/vocês
estar to be	estive	esteve	estivemos	estiveram
dar to give	dei	deu	demos	deram
ser to be	fui	foi	fomos	foram
ter to have	tive	teve	tivemos	tiveram
ver to see	vi	viu	vimos	viram
poder can	pude	pôde	pudemos	puderam
dizer to say	disse	disse	dissemos	disseram
trazer to bring	trouxe	trouxe	trouxemos	trouxeram
fazer to do or make	fiz	fez	fizemos	fizeram
caber to fit	coube	coube	coubemos	couberam
saber to know	soube	soube	soubemos	souberam
querer to want	quis	quis	quisemos	quiseram
haver to have	houve	houve	houvemos	houveram
pôr to put	pus	pôs	pusemos	puseram
ir to go	fui	foi	fomos	foram
vir to come	vim	veio	viemos	vieram

Notice that “ser” and “ir” have the same irregular conjugation in the preterite. Notice also that the verb “pôr” (to put) is considered an “-er” verb based on its Latin origin, that is, “ponere.”

Imperfect Tense

Regular verbs in the imperfect are conjugated as follows:

– In Spanish:

To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we drop the final “-ar,” “-er,” or “-ir” of the verb and attach the conjugation suffix.

	-ar ending hablar	-er ending comer	-ir ending vivir
yo	hablaba	comía	vivía
tú	hablabas	comías	vivías
él/ella/usted	hablaba	comía	vivía
nosotros/-as	hablábamos	comíamos	vivíamos
vosotros/-as	hablabais	comíais	vivíais
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablaban	comían	vivían

There are only three verbs that are irregular in the imperfect. These verbs are:

	ser	ir	ver
yo	era	iba	veía
tú	eras	ibas	veías
él/ella/usted	era	iba	veía
nosotros/-as	éramos	íbamos	veíamos
vosotros/-as	erais	ibais	veíais
ellos/ellas/ustedes	eran	iban	veían

– In Portuguese:

To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we drop the final “-ar,” “-er,” or “-ir” of the verb and attach the conjugation suffix, as follows:

	-ar ending e.g., falar	-er ending e.g., comer	-ir ending e.g., partir
eu	falava	comia	partia
ele/ela/você	falava	comia	partia
nós	falávamos	comíamos	partíamos
eles/elas/vocês	falavam	comiam	partiam

There are only four verbs that are irregular in the imperfect. These verbs are:

	vir (to come)	ter (to have)	ser (to be)	pôr (to put)
eu	vinha	tinha	era	punha
ele/ela/você	vinha	tinha	era	punha
nós	vínhamos	tínhamos	éramos	púnhamos
eles/elas/vocês	vinham	tinham	eram	punham

– In Italian:

To form the stem of the verb needed for regular verb conjugation, we drop the final “-re” of the verb and attach the conjugation suffix. The suffixes are the same for the three types of verbs.

	-are ending parlare (to speak)	-ere ending vendere (to sell)	-ire ending partire (to leave)
io	parlavo	vendevo	partivo
tu	parlavi	vendevi	partivi
lui/lei	parlava	vendeva	partiva
noi	parlavamo	vendevamo	partivamo
voi	parlavate	vendevate	partivate
loro	parlavano	vendevano	partivano

There are a few verbs in the imperfect indicative tense that are irregular. These should be practiced and memorized. The most common ones are: “essere” (to be), “bere” (to drink), “dire” (to say), and “fare” (to do).

	io	tu	lui/lei	noi	voi	loro
bere (to drink)	bevevo	bevevi	beveva	bevevamo	bevevate	bevevano
dare (to give)	davo	davi	dava	davamo	davate	davano
dire (to say/tell)	dicevo	dicevi	diceva	dicevamo	dicevate	dicevano
essere (to be)	ero	eri	era	eravamo	eravate	erano
fare (to do/make)	facevo	facevi	faceva	facevamo	facevate	facevano
stare (to stay/be)	stavo	stavi	stava	stavamo	stavate	stavano

– In French:

To conjugate verbs in the imperfect for all forms, we begin from the first-person plural in the present indicative, that is, the “nous” form, e.g., “parlons,” “finissons,” “buvons,” “partons,” etc., and we extract the stem “parl-,” “finiss-,” “buv-,” “part-,” etc., by dropping the last “-ons.”

The suffixes are the same for all three types of verbs.

	parler (to speak) nous parlons	finir (to finish) nous finissons	boire (to drink) nous buvons
je	parlais	finissais	buvais
tu	parlais	finissais	buvais
il/elle/on	parlait	finissait	buvait
nous	parlions	finissions	buvions
vous	parliez	finissiez	buviez
ils/elles	parlaient	finissaient	buvaient

In essence, the verb “être” (to be) is the only irregular verb in the imperfect.

	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
être to be	étais	étais	était	étions	étiez	étaient

Some verbs in the imperfect undergo minor spelling changes similar to those encountered in conjugation in other tenses to maintain the proper pronunciation, for example:

	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
manger to eat	mangeais	mangeais	mangeait	mangions	mangiez	mangeaient
menacer to threaten	menaçais	menaçais	menaçait	menacions	menaciez	menaçaient

Examples

Let us now look at some examples and determine when to use the imperfect and when to use the preterite. It takes practice, but hopefully, these examples are a good start to illustrate the difference.

EN: I visited my mother last night. SP: Yo visité a mi madre anoche. PT:Eu visitei minha mãe ontem à noite. IT: Io ho visitado mia madre ieri sera. FR: J’ai visité à ma mère hier soir.	Preterite in SP/PT (or) Pres. Perfect in IT/FR	Action with defined time in the past (last night)
EN: I spent two hours at the gym. SP: Pasé dos horas en el gimnasio. PT: Passei duas horas na academia. IT: Ho passato due ore in palestra. FR: J’ai passé deux heures au gymnase.	Preterite in SP/PT (or) Pres. Perfect in IT/FR	Action with defined time in the past (for two hours)
EN: I talked to her the other day. SP: Hablé con ella el otro día. PT:Falei com ela outro dia. IT: Le ho parlato l’altro giorno. FR: Je lui ai parlé l’autre jour.	Preterite in SP/PT (or) Pres. Perfect in IT/FR	Action with defined time in the past (the other day [1])
EN: When I was a child, I used to live in a village. SP: De niña, vivía en un pueblo. PT:Quando criança, eu vivia em um vilarejo. IT: Quando ero bambino, vivevo in un villaggio. FR: Enfant, je vivais dans un village.	Imperfect	Habit in the past, indicated by “used to”
EN: My school professor was tall. SP: Mi profesor de la escuela era alto. PT:Meu professor da escola era alto. IT: Il mio professore di scuola era alto. FR: Mon professeur d’école était grand.	Imperfect	Description in the past
EN: When I was 15 years old, I used to play tennis. SP: Cuando tenía 15 años, jugaba al tenis. PT:Quando eu tinha 15 anos, jogava tênis. IT: Quando avevo 15 anni giocavo a tennis. FR: Quand j’avais 15 ans, je jouais au tennis.	Imperfect	Time and age in the past
EN: I was at work when you called me. SP: Estaba en el trabajo cuando me llamaste. PT:Eu estava no trabalho quando você me ligou. IT: Ero al lavoro quando mi hai chiamato. FR: J’étais au travail quand tu m’as appelé.	Imperfect	Actions continuously happening in the past when another action interrupted

General Rules

In general, use the preterite in Spanish and Portuguese and the present perfect in Italian and French if you are talking about actions with a defined time or period in the past. Look for expressions such as: yesterday, last night, last week, ago, in 1994, from … to …, two times, for three hours, the other day, etc. These expressions may not be explicitly used, but the meaning can implicitly refer to a defined time or period in the past.

The preterite is also often used in Portuguese as an equivalent to the present perfect tense in English. The present perfect in Portuguese is more like the present perfect continuous in English.

On the other hand, use the imperfect when you see phrases such as: “when I was a child,” “when I was younger,” “when I was 15 years old,” etc.

SP	Cuando era joven, podía correr mucho.	When I was young, I could run a lot.
PT	Quando eu era jovem, podia correr muito.
IT	Quando ero giovane, potevo correre molto.
FR	Quand j’étais jeune, je pouvais beaucoup courir.
SP	De niño, me gustaba la fruta.	When I was a child, I used to like fruits.
PT	Quando criança, eu gostava de frutas.
IT	Quando ero bambino, mi piaceva la frutta.
FR	Quand j’étais enfant, j’aimais les fruits.
SP	Cuando era un adolescente, tomaba café.	When I was a teenager, I used to drink coffee.
PT	Quando eu era adolescente, bebia café.
IT	Quando ero adolescente, bevevo caffè.
FR	Quand j’étais adolescente, je buvais du café.

Comparing the Present to the Past

Also, use the imperfect when comparing the present to the past:

SP	Hoy es fácil viajar, pero antes era muy difícil.	Today it is easy to travel, but before, it used to be difficult.
PT	Hoje é fácil viajar, mas antes era muito difícil.
IT	Oggi è facile viaggiare, ma prima era difficile.
FR	Aujourd’hui, il est facile de voyager, mais avant c’était difficile.

Expressing Past Intention using the Imperfect

Another important use of the imperfect tense is to express a past intention of doing something that does not end up being done in the present. These are expressions such as “I was going to …,” “I was thinking of …,” and “I wanted to ….”

The general formula of such expressions is as follows:

SP	Imperfect tense of (“ir a,” “pensar en,” or “querer”) + infinitive
PT	Imperfect tense of (“ir,” “pensar em,” or “querer”) + infinitive
IT	Imperfect tense of (“stare per,” “pensare di,” or “volere”) + infinitive
FR	Imperfect tense of (“aller,” “penser,” or “vouloir ”) + infinitive

For example:

SP	Iba a llamarte, pero me dormí.	I was going to call you, but I fell asleep.
PT	Ia ligar para você, mas adormeci.
IT	Stavo per chiamarti, ma mi sono addormentato.
FR	J’allais t’appeler, mais je me suis endormi.
SP	Pensaba en salir, pero ya es muy tarde.	I was thinking of going out, but it’s already too late.
PT	Pensava em sair, mas já é tarde demais.
IT	Pensavo di andarmene, ma è troppo tardi.
FR	Je pensais partir, mais c’est trop tard.
SP	Quería venir, pero tuve un accidente.	I wanted to come, but I had an accident.
PT	Queria vir, mas sofri um acidente.
IT	Volevo venire, ma ho avuto un incidente.
FR	Je voulais venir, mais j’ai eu un accident.

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