Reply #6: well, some basic guidelines [View All]

[imenja]

the preterit refers to a finite stage in the past. The imperfect refers to an ongoing process. Descriptions are imperfect: I was tired. Yo era cansada. He was fat. El era gordo. When I was ten years old. Quando tenia quinze anos.
As opposed to something that was completed in a finite amount of time: Yo fui al cinema. I went to the movies. Hizo el trabajo. I did the work.

Wikipedia gives an explanation of some differences: tuvo una hija (she gave birth to a daughter). Tenia una hija ( she had a daughter). Both use the verb tener, to have, but have entirely different meanings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_verbs#Contrasting_the_preterite_and_the_imperfect

Learning irregulars are just about memorizing. Spanish is a nearly completely regular language. It doesn't get much easier. My Spanish sucks, because I translate everything from Portuguese into Spanish. The basic rules are the same, but Portuguese is less regular and uses a future subjunctive.