Spanish Past Tenses: Preterite vs Imperfect Explained

Two Past Tenses in Spanish

Unlike English, Spanish has two main past tenses that serve different purposes. Getting this right is the key to sounding natural in conversation.

Preterite (Pretérito Indefinido)

Use for completed, one-off actions with a clear beginning and end:

Fui a España el año pasado. — I went to Spain last year.

Imperfect (Pretérito Imperfecto)

Use for ongoing states, habits, or background descriptions in the past:

Cuando era niño, vivía en Perth. — When I was a child, I lived in Perth.