Verbs with Special Meanings in the Preterit Past & Imperfect Past

conocer Preterit Past: Conocer  to meet Yo conocí a tus padres en la fiesta. I met your parents at the party (It was the beginning of our acquaintance) Imperfect Past: Conocer  to know Cuando era niña, no conocía a mi tía muy bien. When I was a girl, I didn’t know my aunt very well. (Unspecified amount of time, no definite beginning or end)

saber Imperfect Past: Saber  to know Preterit Past: Saber  to find out Yo supe que mi novio salía con mi mejor amiga. I found out that my boyfriend was going out with my best friend. (It was the beginning of knowledge that he was cheating on me) Imperfect Past: Saber  to know Yo no sabía que Juan salía con María. I didn’t know that Juan was going out with Maria. (Unspecified amount of time, no definite beginning or end)

Gustar Preterit Past: Gustar  to like (as a reaction) No me gustó la nueva película The Hobbit. I did not like the new movie The Hobbit. (It was my reaction after I saw the movie) Imperfect Past: Gustar  to like (in general) Cuando era joven, me gustaba la película La Sirenita. When I was little, I liked the movie The Little Mermaid. (In general, no definite beginning or end)

Querer Preterit Past: Querer  to want to and did do Yo quise subir el pico Kilamanjaro. I wanted climb Mt. Kilamanjaro. (I wanted to, I acted on that desire, and did climb the mountain) Imperfect Past: Querer  to want Yo quería comprar esa blusa. I wanted to buy that blouse. (I wanted to, but I never acted on it. Just in general, no definite beginning or end)

No querer Preterit Past: No querer  to refuse Yo no quise comer en McDonalds. I refused to eat at McDonalds. (I did not want to eat there and I stood by my decision, and I did not eat at McDonalds.) Imperfect Past: No querer  to not want Yo no quería ir a la clase de matemáticas. I did not want to go to Math class. (I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t act on that. I implied that I went anyway.)

Poder Imperfect Past: Poder  to be able to Preterit Past: Poder  to be able to and did do El mecánico me dijo que pudo arreglar mi coche. The mechanic told me that he was able to fix my car. (He tried to and was successful in fixing the car; He succeeded in fixing my car.) Imperfect Past: Poder  to be able to María podía ir a la fiesta. Maria was able to go to the party. (No definite beginning or end of when she was able to go.)

No poder Preterit Past: No poder  to try to and fail to do Yo no pude hacer la tarea. I wasn’t able to do the homework. (I tried to do the homework but I couldn’t because I really didn’t understand how to do it.) Imperfect Past: No poder  to not be able to Yo no podía participar en el partido. I was not able to participate in the game. (I didn’t try and fail at playing, I was simply generally unable to play.)

Tener Preterit Past: Tener  to receive, to get María tuvo una carta de Juan. Maria got/received a letter from Juan. (Completed action.) Imperfect Past: Tener  to have Yo tenía un coche grande y caro. I used to have a big, expensive car. (No definite beginning or end to when I had the car.)