The Everything Spanish Grammar Book: All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol (Everything®) (21 page)

ESSENTIAL

Note that other verbs ending in –ucir will also follow the same irregularity as the
producir
in the third-person plural form. The “i” drops out from the ending to retain the hard “h” sound of the Spanish letter “j.”

Completely Irregular

In addition to the verbs covered so far, a few more have their own irregularities.
Dar
(to give) takes on –ER/–IR verb endings, but without the accent marks;
ver
(to see) also drops the accent marks. Finally,
ser
(to be) and
i r
(to go) share the same forms in the preterite tense, and the stem looks nothing like either of the verbs—it’s “fu–.”

What You Were Doing—the Imperfect

The alternative to the preterite tense is the imperfect. This version of the Spanish past tense is used to describe ongoing past actions, or actions that occurred habitually. Here are a few examples of the imperfect tense in action:

Estudiábamos juntos casi todos los días.

Almost every day we studied together.

En los años setenta, ellos vivían en la calle Main.

In the seventies, they lived on Main Street.

Mientras ella miraba la televisión, yo terminaba mis tareas.

While she was watching television, I was finishing my chores.

Conjugating verbs in the imperfect tense is very easy. All you need to do is drop the infinitive ending and add the proper imperfect ending:

The only irregularly conjugated verbs are
i r
(to go),
ser
(to be), and
ver
(to see):

Also, as you might have noticed from one of the example sentences, the imperfect form of
hay
is
había.

FACT

A Point of Comparison

The easiest way to understand the differences between preterite and imperfect tenses is to see them used together in the same sentence:

Estaba en la cama cuando oí los ruidos.

I was in bed when I heard the sounds.

Teresa anunció ayer que pensaba recomenzar sus estudios.

Yesterday Teresa announced that she was thinking of returning to her studies.

Generalmente, llegaba al trabajo a tiempo, pero aquel día
llegué muy tarde.

Generally, I arrived to work on time, but that day I arrived very late.

In the first example, the imperfect is used to show the continual action (I was in bed) while the preterite illustrates the specific action (I heard the sounds). In the second example, the imperfect is used to describe Teresa’s general thoughts over a period of time, while the preterite describes the specific action of making the announcement. In the third example, the imperfect form of
llegar
shows habitual action, while the same verb in the preterite tense describes a specific action on one particular day.

It’s Not the Same Thing

A few of the verbs change in meaning depending on whether they are in the preterite or the imperfect form. Compare the following pair:

Conoció a Jorge en Toledo.

She met Jorge in Toledo.

Conocía a Jorge por mucho tiempo.

She knew Jorge for a very long time.

In the preterite, which signals a specific action,
conocer
is translated as “to meet.” In the imperfect, the past tense of ongoing actions,
conocer
indicates how long you’ve known someone or something. The same changes of meaning can be seen in
poder
(to be able to),
saber
(to know), and
tener
(to have):

No pude completar los ejercicios.

I didn’t manage to complete the exercises.

No podía completar los ejercicios.

I wasn’t able to complete the exercises.

Supe la verdad demasiado tarde.

I found out the truth too late.

No sabía la verdad.

I didn’t know the truth.

Tuvimos una idea.

We got an idea.

Teníamos mucha hambre.

We were very hungry.

Past Progressive Forms

Just as there are two past-tense forms of
hay
(there is, there are), there are also two versions of the progressive form: the preterite progressive and the imperfect progressive. As you might recall from Chapter 9, progressive forms of the verb are formed with the verb
estar
(to be), plus the present participle.

Of the two forms, by far the more common one is the imperfect progressive. This makes sense, because the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing actions:

Estaba cocinando la cena.

She was cooking dinner.

Estaba trabajando cuando oí las noticias.

I was working when I heard the news.

The preterite progressive is less common, but it also has its uses. You can use it to show action that was in progress in the past but was then completed:

Estuve trabajando hasta que oí las noticias.

I was working until I heard the news.

Practice Makes Perfect

Conjugate the verbs in parentheses; choose between the preterite and imperfect tense:

1.
¿(Tú) ________________ (dormir) un rato?

2.
Hace tres años que nuestra abuela ________________ (morirse).

3.
La maestra nunca ________________ (cansarse) de
nuestras preguntas.

4.
Generalmente la enfermera ________________ (comer) el
desayuno a las ocho.

5.
Yo ________________ (pensar) terminar el trabajo a las
cinco, pero ________________ (terminar) a las siete.

6.
Cuando (estar) en el grupo de rock, yo
________________ (tocar) la guitarra y Ernesto
________________ (tocar) la batería.

7.
¿Ya (ella) te ________________ (decir) qué pasó?

8.
¿Ustedes ________________ (leer) la novela Rayuela de
Julio Cortázar?

9.
Los clases ________________ (acabar) en junio.

10.
Nosotros ________________ (dar) el dinero a la camarera.

11.
En aquellos días, ellos ________________ (preferir) el cine a
los libros.

12.
Usted ________________ (estar) trabajando cuando se
________________ (apagarse) la luz.

13.
Los niños ________________ (estar) en cama cuando
________________
(oír) los ruidos.

14.
Yo ________________ (conocer) a mi marido en la fiesta
de Navidad.

15. El año pasado, yo ________________ (dormir) por lo menos ocho
horas cada noche.

16. Ellos ________________ (venir) por la noche.

17. ________________ (haber) mucha comida para los
invitados.

18. El gerente ________________ (concluir) su lectura con aplausos.

19. Yo siempre ________________ (decir) que no tendrás suerte en
este proyecto.

20. Mientras nosotros ________________ (caminar) a casa,
________________ (empezar) a llover.

To check your answers, refer to the answer key in Appendix D.

C
HAPTER
12
Future and
Conditional

THE NEXT TWO TENSES to review are simple future tense and conditional tense. Both have equivalents in English and both are easy to conjugate—only a few Spanish verbs are irregular in the future and conditional tense, and in each case, the irregularity remains the same in both of these tenses.

Double Endings

Because conjugating verbs in the future and conditional is very similar, it makes sense to introduce them together. In both sets of conjugations, the verb retains its infinitive ending and takes on an additional ending according to its person and number. What makes things really simple is that –AR, –ER, and –IR verbs share the same set of endings:

In English, these tenses are formed with compound verbs. To form the future tense, you use “will + verb”; to form the conditional, you use “would + verb.” In Spanish, these tenses don’t require compound forms. All you need to know are the endings.

Irregular Stem Forms

There is another reason conjugating verbs in the future and the conditional is relatively easy—the few verbs that are irregular vary from the infinitive form, but retain the same regular endings. Furthermore, the same infinitive form change applies to conjugations in both tenses.