Preterite vs.

*Review Preterite Endings

Imperfect Give context for when they learned the preterite. “When we had our clothes and shopping
(6A3) unit we learned the preterite tense and talked about what we bought, wore, and ate when we
went to the mall. Remember?”
Present the endings.
AR Verbs ER/IR Verbs
é amos í imos
aste iste

ó aron ió ieron

Perhaps, present one example verb. “Comprar means to buy, if I wanted to say I bought the
skirt. What would I do? I would take of the AR, and add the e. Yo compré la falda.”

*Review Imperfect Endings

Give context for when they learned the imperfect. “A few days ago , we learned how to talk
about what we did and were like when we were little, and we used different endings, the
imperfect. Remember those?”
Present the endings.
AR Verbs ER/IR Verbs
aba ábamos ía íamos
abas ías

aba aban ía ían

Again, perhaps present an example verb in the context in which the students learned the
endings.
the context in which the students learned the endings.

*Explain Concept of Verb Tenses. The Preterite and Imperfect are TWO DIFFERENT
WAYS to talk about the PAST.
We use different verb endings in Spanish depending on when the action took place, takes
places, or will take place. In English our verbs change, too.
Example: When I was little, I used to run around the house, chasing my brother with hot
water.
Last week, while I was running, I tripped and fell.
Yesterday I ran in the track meet after school at Ballou.
Everyday after school I run sprints during track practice.

Today we are going to focus on the difference between TWO PAST TENSES in SPANISH: the
Preterite and the Imperfect. They are both used to talk about the PAST but are slightly
different.