Indefinido vs. Imperfecto I

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Indefinido and Imperfecto are two Spanish past tenses, which complement each other. Using them you can talk about almost everything, that happened in the past. In order to do so, you should know how to apply them right. In these two lessons we are going to carry out a detailed review of the difference between Indefinido and Imperfecto.

Indefinido

There are three basic use cases, when Indefinido is used.

A. An action was performed once

Ayer salí de casa tarde — Yesterday I left home late

María entró en casa y cerró la puerta — Maria came home and shut the door

Viajamos a España el verano pasado — We traveled to Spain last year

It’s not needed to explicitly mention that something was done only once. It’s already implied in the context.

Try it yourself:

Laura bought a chair

What did you say to him?

Yesterday we had a party

Sometimes, negative versions of these sentences can produce confusion.

Ayer no salí – Yesterday I didn’t go out

Negative sentences should be treated just like the affirmative ones. If you have any doubts, cut off the no element, and see, if it’s a one-time action. The grammar won’t change.

Ayer no salí – Ayer salí

B. An action was performed a determined number of times.

El verano pasado estuve dos veces en América — Last summer I was in America two times

Anoche alguien me llamó varias veces, pero no cogí el teléfono — Last night somebody called me several times, but I didn’t pick up the phone

Vimos esta película muchas veces — We saw this movie many times

¿Cuántas veces se lo dijiste? — How many times did you say it to him?

In these sentences the exact number of times isn’t really important. It can be two, ten, one hundred, several or many times. Most importantly is that the number of times is implied in the context.

This second use case (determined-number-of-times action) can be grouped with the first one (one-time action), because, technically, it’s the same situation. As one-time actions are extremely common, we’ve observed them separately, for convenience.

Try it yourself:

Claudia had three job interviews last week

I did it many times

How many times did you go to the theater last year? (vosotros)

C. An action lasted for a determined period of time, or has determined time frames.

Paco vivió en Argentina 4 años — Paco lived in Argentina for 4 years

Estudié español desde octubre hasta mayo — I learned Spanish from October till May

Ayer llovió todo el día — Yesterday it rained all day

El invierno pasado hizo mucho frío — Last winter it was very cold

Time frames show when an action started, or when it ended, or both. If it has any determined duration, use Indefinido.

If you say, that Juan lived in Argentina for 4 years, it’s quite evident, that the verb should come in Indefinido.

Juan vivió en Argentina 4 años

If you need to say, that he lived there all his life, use Indefinido, as well.

Juan vivió en Argentina toda su vida

Even if he always lived there, or never, you should use Indefinido, because always and never are also time frames, according to the Spanish grammar.

Juan siempre vivió en Argentina

Juan nunca vivió en Argentina

These time markers require Indefinido:

10 años – for 10 years

muchos años – for many years

desde … hasta … – from … till …

todo el verano, toda la semana, toda la vida — all summer, all week, all life

siempre – always

nunca – never

Try it yourself:

We were in Barcelona all month

I studied at school for 10 years

My grandfather worked in a hospital all his life

How long did you learn English?

My parents never wanted to visit Malta

I was busy till three

Recap:

Indefinido is about a determined time background. It’s used to point out how many times an action was produced, or how long it lasted.

Imperfecto

Imperfecto, on the contrary, is used, when nothing is known about the number of actions, nor their duration. It has two main use cases.

A. An action was repeatedly produced on a regular basis.

You may think of it as a timetable.

Yo dormía 10 horas cada noche — I slept 10 hours every night

Yo comía helados muy a menudo — I ate ice-creams very often

Los fines de semana mis amigos y yo jugábamos al fútbol — At weekends my friends and I played football

Rafael iba al gimnasio cada dos días — Rafael went to the gym every two days

Here the number of times is unknown, and it doesn’t even matter. What matters is the frequency, as if the actions were infinitely repeated in the past.

These are some common time markers of Imperfecto, that stress out frequency:

cada día — every day

cada tres semanas – every three weeks

a menudo — often

normalmente — usually

a veces – sometimes

dos veces a la semana — two times a week

los lunes – on Mondays

por las mañanas – in the mornings

Try it yourself:

I cooked breakfast every day

We had classes four times a week

Sandra usually went to the gym after work

B. An action used to happen in the past in general, without any time limits.

These are not frequently repeated actions, but single long-lasted processes. The starting and the end points are not determined in the context.

Paco vivía en Argentina – Paco lived in Argentina (just lived there as a fact. The period isn’t mentioned)

De niño Carlos era un buen chico — As a kid Carlos was a good boy

These sentences can be accompanied by the following time markers:

antes — before

cuando yo era niño, pequeño — when I was a child, little

de niño, de pequeño — as a child, as a little boy / girl

Try it yourself:

As a child I had a dog

Before, my grandfather worked in a hospital

We traveled a lot, when we were young

Recap:

Imperfecto is used to say, that something happened with some frequency, or used to happen in general, without any time boundaries.

Examples with explanation

After having observed the basic differences between Indefinido and Imperfecto, let’s take some very common situations and explain them.

a.

Ángela vivía con sus padres — Angela lived with her parents

Explanation:

Imperfecto. It’s referred to living in the past in general. If you say it with Indefinido, Ángela vivió con sus padres, it will mean that she lived with them for a specific period of time. For example, Ángela vivió con sus padres todo el verano.

b.

El caballero le dijo un piropo a la dama — The knight told a compliment to the lady

Explanation:

Indefinido. He did it once. If you say decía, it will mean, that he used to tell her compliments with some frequency.

c.

Cada día por las mañanas Silvia tomaba un café — Every day in the morning Silvia drank a coffee

Explanation:

Imperfecto. She did it regularly. It wouldn’t be correct at all to use Indefinido in this case.

d.

Antes yo trabajaba en una empresa internacional — Before, I worked at an international company

(in general, not for a determined period of time)

Trabajé en esa empresa desde 2005 hasta 2011 — I worked at that company from 2005 till 2011

(a determined time frame)

e.

En esta región normalmente llovía mucho en otoño — Usually, in this region it rained a lot in autumn

(usually, regularly)

Aquel otoño llovió poco — That autumn it rained little

(determined period)

f.

En la casa de Susana el ascensor no funcionaba — In Susana’s house the elevator didn’t work

(at all, without time boundaries)

Ayer el ascensor no funcionó durante todo el día — Yesterday the elevator didn’t work during all day

(within determined time boundaries)

Complex cases

There are quite typical situations, in which it can be difficult to identify what tense to use, Indefinido or Imperfecto. Take a look at the following examples and try to guess first, how to say them in Spanish.

a.

In the 18th century people didn’t talk over the phone

Explanation:

The 18th century here might seem a limited time period, but it’s not. It doesn’t mean, that the action started in 1700 and ended in 1799. People didn’t talk over the phone before the 18th century, either. So, you should apply Imperfecto, because the time period isn’t really determined. It’s as if you wanted to say, that people didn’t talk over the phone in general before, and in the 18th century they didn’t do it, as well.

En el siglo 18 la gente no hablaba por teléfono

Try it yourself:

In 1950 there was no Internet yet

Last year we didn’t have children

Yesterday Pablo already knew Silvia

b.

I always woke up at seven

Explanation:

Such time markers as siempre and nunca can produce confusion, because they also can be used Imperfecto. Actually, they are universal adverbs, that can be found with every grammar tense.

As the action happened repeatedly, day by day, to express it in Spanish, you should use Imperfecto.

Siempre me levantaba a las siete

Try it yourself:

We never worked on Saturdays

I always bought food in that shop

c.

In the summer I met my friends in the evening

Explanation:

In spite of the fact, that this action has determined period limits (in the summer), it’s not a single action, that started at the beginning and ended at the end of summer. These actions were constantly produced as some kind of schedule. Imperfecto is the right choice here.

En verano veía a mis amigos por las noches

Try it yourself:

During our vacation we went to the beach every day

Her classes started at 8 during all year

d.

I didn’t want to disturb you

Explanation:

This seems an action that was produced only once, but it’s very abstract and, in fact, lasted for an undetermined period of time. Spanish speakers tend to express such abstract actions using Imperfecto.

No quería molestarte

To this type of abstract actions can be applied such verbs as pensar, creer, tener, poder, ser, estar.

Así que eres abogado. No lo sabía – So, you are a lawyer. I didn’t know that

Y tú, ¿qué esperabas? – And what did you expect?

Try it yourself:

Is Daniela from Italy? – I thought, that yes

I couldn’t imagine that

My grandparents had five children

These abstract actions take the form of Indefinido, when they are really brief or within determined time boundaries.

Compare:

Yo lo sabía – I knew that (in general, no time limits)

Supe la noticia ayer – I learned the news yesterday (instantly)

Lucía quería vivir sola – Lucia wanted to live alone (in general)

Lucía quiso comer un helado – Lucia wanted to eat an ice-cream (she got an urge, the desire appeared suddenly)

Elena tenía un niño – Elena had a child (in general)

Elena tuvo un niño – Elena had a baby (her baby was born)

Try it yourself:

Miguel could write a book (he was able to do it, in general)

Miguel could write a book (he managed to do it)

Luis and Sara wanted to help me (in general)

Luis and Sara wanted to help me (the wish appeared instantly)

Yesterday was a hard day

Our life used to be harder

Recap

Indefinido and Imperfecto are very conditional tenses. The choice of the right tense depends only on two conditions:

a. determined / undetermined number of times

Indefinido: determined (one, two, hundred, many)

Imperfecto: undetermined, regular actions (every day, on Mondays)

b. determined / undetermined period

Indefinido: determined time frames (for 10 years, all summer, from / till)

Imperfecto: in general, no time boundaries (before, as a child)

Even the most complex cases can be explained with these basic rules. Time markers can help, but don’t rely on them too much. The meaning is primary, and the time markers are secondary.