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Preterite vs. imperfect III: Verbs that change meaning

 
Introduction/Review

Make sure you know the conjugations of regular and irregular verbs in the preterite and imperfect. This section does not cover conjugation, but is used to introduce verbs whose meanings change based on tense.

 

The Verbs

This section focuses on four common verbs that have different meanings in the preterite and imperfect. Why does this happen? Basically, because the preterite implies that an action was completed in the past, and the imperfect implies that the action was seen as in progress in the past, the connotations of some verbs change.

Some verbs can have different meanings in the preterite and imperfect.

Quick reference:
Next topics:
Additional Resources:

In your textbook (Realidades III):

1. Capítulo 2-1

2. Capítulo 2-2

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