In Spanish, telling stories about the past involves choosing between two main tenses: the 'pretérito indefinido' and the 'pretérito imperfecto'. Think of the indefinido for specific, completed actions, like a snapshot. The imperfecto is for background details, descriptions, and repeated habits, like setting the scene in a film. This deck will teach you how to choose the right one.

The 'pretérito indefinido' is used for actions that are viewed as single, completed events in the past. If you can pinpoint it on a timeline, it's probably the indefinido. Time markers like 'ayer', meaning yesterday, and 'la semana pasada', meaning last week, signal these completed actions.

Now for the 'pretérito imperfecto'. Use this tense to describe what was going on in the past, or to set the scene. It describes states, conditions, and what things were like, without focusing on a beginning or end. For example, 'hacía sol' means 'it was sunny'.