GUIDE深度 · Deep dive
Using Five Spanish Tenses
Present covers habits/current; preterite covers completed actions; imperfect covers background/ongoing; future covers predictions/plans; conditional covers hypotheses/politeness. Read the timeline first, then choose the tense.
Timeline
Completed yesterday -> preterite.
Ongoing/background -> imperfect.
Tomorrow/prediction -> future.
Contrast
Ayer comí (completed) vs Antes comía (habit).
Si tuviera dinero, viajaría (hypothesis).
When two tenses look possible, say the sentence out loud and check whether the action is finished, repeated, or still unfolding.
FAQ
Preterite or imperfect?
Ask whether the action is completed or the process matters.
Is conditional only for hypotheses?
Also for polite requests, e.g. ¿Podrías...?