The preterite tense is ideal for describing several situations that coexist in time and space.
The notion of copreterite , proposed by the Venezuelan-Chilean humanist Andrés Bello , refers to the imperfect preterite . It is a verbal tense characterized by generally referring to an action that took place simultaneously with another past action .
At the same time
In the preterite tense, time limits are not usually very relevant. The verb in the preterite tense, in fact, does not define whether the process has already been completed or is still in progress.
A common use of the preterite tense is when two past actions are carried out at the same time . For example: “The children were playing while their parents were chatting pleasantly.” In this case, “played” and “chatted” are verbs conjugated in the preterite tense. The sentence expresses that the children were having fun at the same time that their parents were chatting.
Returning to the topic of time limits, although it is true that the example is in the past tense, it would not be unusual for the children to continue playing and the parents to continue chatting at the time of the utterance. This could happen if the speaker had seen the situation just a moment before describing it to his interlocutor: “I just came in from the street and saw that…” .
Opposing habits
The preterite also appears to contrast a habit from the past with a different behavior in the present : “I used to always eat junk food for lunch, but now I prefer salads,” “Although I smoked in my youth, I was later able to quit smoking.”
In these examples we can see once again that time limits are not so relevant in the preterite. The opposition of actions from the past with others that have replaced them is intended to indicate that the former are no longer carried out, and not to specify the point in time at which they ended.
If, on the other hand, we wanted to indicate the date (exact or approximate), we should use the imperfect preterite: «last year I gave up junk food and started eating salads for lunch» . In fact, both sentences can be used to explain the other, linking them with constructions such as «o sea que» or «por lo tanto», among others.
Descriptions of the past
Descriptions that do not have continuity in the present can be developed based on the preterite: “The young people cried inconsolably in front of the teacher's body and tried to console each other; outside the funeral home, the sky was dark and it did not stop snowing.”
Although it is true that this example can make us think of the example of children playing while their parents were talking, given above, there is a nuance that differentiates them slightly: continuity in the present. We have said that this aspect is not usually very relevant in the preterite, and that remains the case; however, in the case of a description like the one in the previous paragraph, it is more likely that the actions have concluded , since it seems to be the story of someone who witnessed this situation some time ago.
Courtesy formulas
Another use of the preterite appears in polite formulas : “Were you looking for something, ma'am?” , “Did you need help, sir?” .
Shop assistants often use the preterite tense when serving their customers, although with the intention of the present.
If we analyse this type of formula taking into account only the meaning that the use of this verb tense evokes in us, our understanding is compromised, since at first glance the questions refer to the past. However, they are used to find out the situation of the other person at the time of the conversation, that is, in the present . One exception: if the speaker began by saying “Yesterday I saw her in the shop. Was she looking for/needing something?” he would be referring to the past.
Endings and irregular verbs
It is important to note that in our language there are irregular verbs such as ver , ir and ser with particular conjugations. For the rest, in the preterite, endings such as -aba , -abas , -aban , -abais , -áramos , -ía , – ías , – ían , -íais and -rían must be added.