Things You'll Need

Instructions

How to Tell the Difference Between the Imperfect and Preterit in Spanish

1

First of all, know what it is you wish to say in the past tense, whether you want a completed action in the past or whether you want to describe an action or weather status going on in the past.
2

Line up your verbs in -AR, -ER, or -IR and determine the past action as in the first step. If you wish to say : " I spoke in Spanish" or: " I was speaking Spanish", or: "I used to speak Spanish"
3

In the case of : " I spoke Spanish", know that HABLAR is an -AR verb, its conjugation goes: hable', hablaste, hablo', hablamos,hablaron.

In the case of: " I was speaking Spanish", again taking the -AR verb, HABLAR, its conjugation now goes: hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, habla'mos, hablaban. Big difference between -AR verbs for both tenses.
4

In the case of certain verbs already mentioned as in -ER and -IR verbs as in TENER(to hold), Preterit forms conjugate(note the irregular forms): tuve(irregular here), tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvieron--endings reflect -e, -iste,-o, -imos, -ieron. For Imperfect forms: teni'a,
teni'as, teni'a, teni'amos, teni'an, with the translations "would", -ing ending, 'used to".