Spanish has two past tenses: the imperfect and preterit. The imperfect tense is used for actions in the past that were a routine, that were in progress when another action happened, or that describe the time in the past. Any action that you did regularly in the past, like going to work or brushing your teeth, would need a verb in the imperfect tense. Also, if you want to describe an ongoing background action, like 'The birds were singing,' or 'It was raining,' you would use the imperfect tense. Finally, if you want to say what time it was in the past, such as days, hours, or months, you'll want an imperfect verb. Here you can see a few examples that would use the imperfect:
| Use |
Example |
Meaning |
| Routine past action |
Hablaba con mi abuelo todos los días. |
I spoke with my grandfather every day. |
| Actions in progress |
Estaba lloviendo. |
It was raining. |
| Time in the past |
Era martes. |
It was Tuesday. |
The other past tense in Spanish is the preterit, which you use for any action finished in the past. You can think of these actions as happening only one time. For example, to say 'I talked with my sister last Tuesday,' you would say Hablé con mi hermana el martes pasado. You use the preterit tense because you only did the action on time, last Tuesday.
