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Preterito vs. Imperfecto

Spanish uses 2 forms of the past tense, the preterit
(see Zesez Spanish Level II, Lesson 7) and the 
imperfect.  

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Forming the Imperfect

for regular -ar verbs use the following endings

(hablar)

yo hablaba
tú hablabas
ella hablaba
nosotros hablábamos
ellos hablaban

for regular -er or -ir verbs use the following endings

(tener)

yo tenía
tú tenías
ella tenía
nosotros teníamos
ellos tenían

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Rules

1. Use the preterit to describe events that took 
   place in the past and have a definite beginning 
   and an end.

	ie.  Mi hermano llamó ayer.
	     My brother called yesterday.

2. Use the imperfect for events in which the beginning
   and end are not indicated, such as...
   
   a.   To describe an event that was in the process
	of happening in the past.  

	ie.  ¿Adonde ibas tan rapido?
	     Where were you going so quickly?

   b. 	To express habitual action (what used to 
	happen), or repeated action (what happened
	over and over again).

	ie.  Yo caminaba a la escuela todos los dias.
	     I walked to school everyday.
   
   c. 	To describe states or conditions in the past.


	ie.  Tenía pelo rubio.
	     She had blond hair.

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