Preterite vs imperfect in Spanish: the scene and the event

Cuando — two pasts, two jobs

Two pasts, two jobs: the ongoing one is imperfect — the scene; the one thing that happened in it is preterite — the event. «cuando» (when, no accent) is the word that connects them — never confuse it with the question «¿cuándo?». «Cuando era niño, fui a México» — era sets the scene, fui is what happened.

• Cuando era niño, fui a México

  When I was a child, I went to Mexico

• Cuando iba a la escuela, vi a Sam

  When I was going to school, I saw Sam

• Cuando vino Diego, yo hablaba con Ana

  When Diego came, I was talking with Ana

• Cuando yo era niño, era muy bueno en la escuela

  When I was a child, I was very good at school

Mientras — while, at the same time

«mientras» means while — it frames two things happening at once. Most often it joins two ongoing scenes, both imperfect: «mientras yo hablaba, tú veías la película». Or it frames one event landing inside an ongoing scene: «mientras hablábamos, vino Diego» — hablábamos is the scene, vino is what happened.

• Mientras hablábamos, vino Diego

  While we were talking, Diego came

• Mientras iba a la escuela, vi a Sofía

  While I was going to school, I saw Sofía

• Mientras todos hablaban, Sam vino a la fiesta

  While everyone was talking, Sam came to the party

• Mientras veíamos la película, Sofía habló con Ana

  While we were watching the movie, Sofía talked with Ana

De repente — suddenly, breaking into the scene

«de repente» means suddenly — it marks the clause where something just happened, breaking into an ongoing scene. «veíamos una película, y de repente vino Sofía» — veíamos is the scene; de repente flags that vino is the interruption.

• Veíamos una película, y de repente vino Sofía

  We were watching a movie, and suddenly Sofía came

• De repente, vi a Carmen en la tienda

  Suddenly, I saw Carmen at the store

• Yo hablaba con Ana, y de repente vino Luis

  I was talking with Ana, and suddenly Luis came

• Todos hablaban, y de repente vino Sam

  Everyone was talking, and suddenly Sam came

Entonces — then, chaining what happened next

«entonces» means then, so — it chains two finished events in sequence. It doesn't open a scene like «cuando»/«mientras»/«de repente» do — both sides stay preterite. «De repente vino Diego, entonces fuimos al parque» — vino happened, then fuimos happened next.

• De repente vino Diego, entonces fuimos al parque

  Suddenly Diego came, so we went to the park

• Vino Carmen, entonces todos fueron al mercado

  Carmen came, so everyone went to the market

• Vi a Luis en la escuela, entonces hablé con él

  I saw Luis at school, so I talked with him

• Vino Ana, entonces fuimos al parque

  Ana came, so we went to the park

Fue, era, iba — three shapes, one collision

«fue» is the one bounded event — it can mean was (from ser) or went (from ir); context tells them apart. «era» is the ongoing scene, always was (ser). «iba» is the ongoing scene, always was going (ir). «La fiesta fue muy buena» — one verdict, bounded. «Cuando era niño» — an ongoing state.

• Cuando era niño, la fiesta fue muy buena

  When I was a child, the party was very good

• Cuando iba a la escuela, era muy bueno

  When I was going to school, I was very good

• La fiesta era buena, cuando vino Diego

  The party was good, when Diego came

• Diego fue muy bueno en la escuela

  Diego was very good at school

• Cuando todos fueron a la playa, yo iba al parque

  When everyone went to the beach, I was going to the park

The background/event shape

«mientras yo hacía la tarea, de repente vino Diego»: the imperfect («hacía») paints the ongoing scene; the preterite («vino») is the one thing that happened and interrupted it. Any imperfect works as background this way («estaba», «hacía», «quería», «podía», «venía»), with a preterite like «vino» or «fue» as the event.

• Yo estaba en casa cuando vino Diego

  I was at home when Diego came

• Mientras venía a la escuela, vino Ana

  While I was coming to school, Ana came

• No podía ir, y de repente, fue Diego solo

  I couldn't go, and suddenly, Diego went alone

• Mientras hacía la tarea, vino Diego

  While I was doing homework, Diego came

• De niño, quería ir al cine

  As a child, I wanted to go to the movies

• Mientras yo hacía la tarea, de repente vino Diego

  While I was doing homework, Diego suddenly came

Same verb, two tenses

«comía» is the habit; «comí» is the one time. The marker tells you which: «siempre»/«todos los días»/«de niño» take the imperfect, «ayer»/«anoche»/«la semana pasada» take the preterite. «pero» sets them against each other.

• Siempre vivía en México, pero la semana pasada viví en España

  I always used to live in Mexico, but last week I lived in Spain

• Mi padre siempre trabajaba mucho, pero ayer no trabajó

  My father always used to work a lot, but yesterday he didn't work

• De niño, estudiaba mucho, pero anoche no estudié

  As a child, I used to study a lot, but last night I didn't study

• De niño, salía mucho al parque, pero la semana pasada no salí

  As a child, I used to go out a lot to the park, but last week I didn't go out

• Mi padre trabajaba todos los días

  My father used to work every day

• Siempre comía en casa, pero ayer comí en el restaurante

  I always used to eat at home, but yesterday I ate at the restaurant

Check yourself

Questions from the course. Pick an answer to check it; nothing is saved.

1. 1.Which one means 'when' as a connector (never a question)?

   cuando¿cuándo?mientrasentonces

2. 2.Which one means 'while' (two things at once)?

   cuandomientrasentonces¿cuándo?

3. 3.Which one means 'suddenly' (breaking into a scene)?

   de repenteentoncesmientrascuando

4. 4.Which one chains two finished events ('then, so')?

   cuandomientrasde repenteentonces

5. 5.Which one reports the one bounded verdict (how something turned out)?

   eraibafuifue