The Simple Past vs. Past Continuous in Spanish
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Explanation
In Spanish, the past continuous or past progressive is used to talk about continuous actions in the past, especially when they are interrupted by another action. This tense is most similar to the imperfect, but places even more emphasis on the ongoing nature of an action.
There are so many different verb tenses that we use to talk about the past in Spanish. In this article, we will focus on the difference between the simple past tenses (preterite and imperfect) and the past continuous tense (imperfect progressive).
Review of the Simple Past and Past Continuous Tenses
The Simple Past
Before talking about the differences between the simple past and past continuous, let's review their verb conjugations. In Spanish, there are two simple past tenses: the preterite and the imperfect. Both are formed by subtracting the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir), and replacing it with another. Note that each tense has one set of endings for -ar verbs, and another for -er and -ir verbs. The table below shows how to conjugate the verbs caminar(to walk) and correr(to run) in both the preterite and imperfect.
| yo | -é |
| tú | -aste |
| él, ella, usted | -ó |
| nosotros | -amos |
| vosotros | -asteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aron |
| yo | -í |
| tú | -iste |
| él, ella, usted | -ió |
| nosotros | -imos |
| vosotros | -isteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -ieron |
| yo | -aba |
| tú | -abas |
| él, ella, usted | -aba |
| nosotros | -ábamos |
| vosotros | -abais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aban |
| yo | -ía |
| tú | -ías |
| él, ella, usted | -ía |
| nosotros | -íamos |
| vosotros | -íais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -ían |
¡Cuidado!(Careful!) Irregular verbs do not follow the same rules. Check out this article to review irregular preterite verbs, and this one for imperfect verbs.
The Past Continuous
The imperfect progressive tense is formed by combining the imperfect tense of estar(to be) with a gerund.
Formula for the imperfect progressive
imperfect tense of estar + gerund
The table below shows an example conjugation of the verb jugar(to play).
| Subject | Imperfect progressive: jugar |
|---|---|
| yo | estaba jugando |
| tú | estabas jugando |
| él, ella, usted | estaba jugando |
| nosotros | estábamos jugando |
| vosotros | estabais jugando |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | estaban jugando |
Using the Simple Past
In English, there is only one simple past tense, but in Spanish there are two: the preterite and the imperfect. The preterite is used to talk about completed actions in the past, while the imperfect is used for repeated actions without a defined beginning and end. The examples below show their various uses. Click here for more information on the distinction between the preterite and imperfect tenses.
Uses of the Preterite
1. Beginnings and ends
2. Single occurrences
3. Specific times
4. Repeated actions with a specific number of occurrences
5. Series of events
Uses of the Imperfect
1. Habitual or repeated actions
2. Ongoing actions
3. States of being, descriptions and conditions
4. Ages and times
Using the Past Continuous
Similar to the imperfect, the imperfect progressive is used to talk about ongoing actions in the past. It is more commonly used to emphasize the continual nature of an action, especially if it is interrupted by another action. The following examples illustrate its use:
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While the imperfect and imperfect progressive tenses can be used interchangeably in some circumstances, this is not always the case. The imperfect progressive cannot be used for descriptions, states of being, conditions, age, time or habitual actions. The following examples show incorrect uses of the imperfect progressive:
| Correct | Incorrect | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| El cielo era azul. | El cielo estaba siendo azul. | The sky was blue. |
| Jorge estaba enfermo. | Jorge estaba estando enfermo. | Jorge was ill. |
| Hacía frío ayer. | Estaba haciendo frío ayer. | It was cold yesterday. |
| La niña tenía cinco años. | La niña estaba teniendo cinco años. | The girl was five years old. |
| Eran las seis de la mañana. | Estaba siendo las seis de la mañana. | It was six in the morning. |
In many instances, it is grammatically correct to use either the imperfect or imperfect progressive tenses. However, if you wish to indicate a habitual action in the past, you must use the imperfect:
| Imperfect | Translation | Imperfect progressive | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Él tocaba el piano. | He used to play the piano. | Él estaba tocando el piano. | He was playing the piano. |
| Nadaba en la piscina. | I used to swim in the pool. | Estaba nadando en las piscina. | I was swimming in the pool. |
Did you know that the imperfect progressive is more commonly used in some dialects of Spanish than others? For example, Spanish speakers in the United States tend to use it more frequently due to the influence of the English language.
Are you looking for more information about past tenses in Spanish? Take a look at these articles:
