It’s so wonderful when new students improve their storytelling skills in Spanish. But this usually comes with a challenge: the narrative use of the imperfect tense.
That’s right, in Spanish, when we tell stories, we don’t just use the simple past (pretérito). We use the imperfect tense a lot to set the scene and provide background.
For example: Cuando era niño, jugaba fútbol todos los días.
What’s this? Why does it happen? And why is it essential to give a spark of life to your stories?
All the answers you’re looking for are right here. Let’s see!
The initial confusion
When we tell stories, we usually narrate past events. That means talking about things that already happened, right? They’re in the past now.
In English, for example, you could say something like, “I played soccer.”
The Spanish translation would be: “Yo jugué fútbol.”
It’s normal to expect this. That means it’s understandable to be a little shocked when it doesn’t work like this.
As we showed earlier, there’s another option.
When telling a story, it’s much more common to hear: “Yo jugaba fútbol.”
Does it feel a little strange? Don’t worry, the explanation is pretty easy! You’ll see.
Why does the narrative use of the imperfect feel odd
To native speakers, using this descriptive tense to tell stories comes naturally. But, believe it or not, that’s more the result of being exposed to it than conscious study.
So, as an English speaker, it’s okay to find it a little weird. You’re just not used to it.
Besides, it’s true that sentences in the imperfect tense aren’t that easy to translate. At least, it’s not as easy as “I played” → “Yo jugué.”
The imperfect tense, “Yo jugaba”, can seem unclear. It can give the impression that the action, the sentence, or the narrative is incomplete.
But that perfectly explains why we use it for past narration! And once you’ve accepted this… Good job! You’ve already taken the first step of your journey.
Using the imperfect tense for narrations
Those exact characteristics that make the imperfect tense confusing are about to come in handy.
There are a few reasons why this tense is used in storytelling structures. Once you understand this, you’ll be able to improve your narrations in Spanish! This tricky descriptive tense will make your stories smooth and captivating. Take a look.
Adding context
“Había una vez…” is the Spanish equivalent of “Once upon a time…”
And, as you can see, it uses the imperfect tense. Otherwise, in the simple past tense, it would be “Hubo una vez.”
Doesn’t that take away some of the magic? It makes it feel like the story is over from the moment you start to tell it. But with the first option… Everything is possible!
Using the imperfect is great for describing background actions, the setting, the mood, and the entire atmosphere of the scene.
For example:
- Era un hermoso día… - It was a beautiful day
- Había una gran fiesta… - There was a big party
- Hacía mucho frío… - It was very cold
- Llovía sin parar… - It was raining nonstop.
Habits and recurrent actions
There’s more to the imperfect than background actions and setting the scene. It is also used to describe habits, recurrent actions, and things that were done more than once.
See? It can be useful for this descriptive tense to be a little vague or unclear about the ending. This is definitely practical when telling stories. Sometimes we need to emphasize the repetitive or continuous nature of some actions.
Like this:
- Siempre comíamos juntos - We always used to eat together
- Cada verano íbamos al pueblo - Every summer, we went to town
- Todos los días, leía el periódico - Every day, he read the newspaper
- Cada sábado, íbamos al cine - Every Saturday, we went to the movies
Marking a difference with the simple past
Yes, sometimes, these two tenses work together. This is how you can make more advanced storytelling structures to tell stories naturally and confidently.
But of course, it’s necessary to really understand the difference between them to make the most of the narrative use of the imperfect.
The preterite
This one is used for the more specific actions, ones that are already finished. That means you’re going to apply it to events that happened once and are now over.
Here are some examples:
- Ayer comí pizza - (Yesterday, I ate pizza)
- Ellos viajaron a México - (They traveled to Mexico)
- Compré un libro nuevo - (I bought a new book)
- José escribió una carta - (José wrote a letter)
You can see how they talk about a particular action, like eating pizza, which happened at a specific moment, and then it was over.
That’s it! You got it! Now you’re ready for the next one.
The imperfect
This time, the sentences will have an unfinished quality, or it won’t be specified when or how many times it happened.
Take a look at how it turns the previous examples into the beginnings of bigger stories!
- Siempre comía pizza en este restaurante, pero luego descubrí algo aún mejor - (I always used to eat pizza at this restaurant, but then I discovered something even better)
- Ellos viajaban a México todos los años, hasta que un día decidieron quedarse - (They used to travel to Mexico every year, until one day they decided to stay)
- Compraba un libro nuevo cada mes, entonces empecé a escribir mis propios libros - (I used to buy a new book every month, then I started writing my own books)
- José escribía una carta cuando le llegó un mensaje más urgente - (Jose was writing a letter when he received a more urgent message)
Can you see how the imperfect tense builds up the story by not giving it a specific limit like the simple past? It can be the beginning, background actions, or just the setting. It opens up so many possibilities!
However, there’s still more to learn! There’s another option for you to consider: the continuous past.
The Continuous Past in Spanish Storytelling
When it comes to storytelling structures, you have different options to choose from. And it’s all right to experiment a little! For example, you can introduce the continuous past to describe actions that are still in progress.
If you combine the continuous past with the preterite, you can create very interesting sentences like these:
- Estaba cocinando cuando sonó el teléfono. (I was cooking when the phone rang.)
- Ellos charlaban mientras nosotros caminábamos por la playa. (They were chatting while we walked on the beach.)
- Llovía cuando salí de casa. (It was raining when I left home.)
- Mientras estudiaba, mi hermano veía la televisión. (While I was studying, my brother was watching TV.)
- Los niños jugaban afuera cuando empezó a llover. (The kids were playing outside when it started to rain.)
I hope this answers your question of why Spanish speakers make narrative use of the imperfect tense. Most importantly, I hope this guide inspired you to give it a try and incorporate it into your stories!
This is one of the best parts of learning a new language: learning to share more stories in new, different, and exciting ways!
Go have fun with it. The community of Spanish speakers around the world wants to hear you.
