Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

Module B: Important moments  • 403 Conocer Very similar to saber , the familiarity expressed by conocer in the present tense is not an action. The pres- ent tense sentence “Conozco a Daniela muy bien” would be “I knew Daniela very well” in the past tense, and it would need the imperfect tense. For the preterite, then, what is the action that corresponds with familiarity? It is to meet , and so this is the implication of conocer when used in the preterite. ¿Dónde conociste a tu novia? Saúl es un buen amigo. Lo conocí en la escuela secundaria. Poder In the present tense, poder expresses ability, which is not an action. For example, “Ella puede bailar muy bien.” In the past tense, this would be “She could dance very well.” An ability is not an action, and so again, we would use the imperfect tense. What does poder mean in the preterite, then? It is the ability plus a follow-through action: to manage to do something or to fail to do something. Los perros corrieron muy rápido, pero no pudieron atrapar al conejo. Este trimestre ha sido muy difícil, pero ayer por fin pude entregar mi trabajo final. Querer In the present tense, querer means “to want.” In the past tense, “I wanted” would require the imperfect, because it describes what things were like in the past. The preterite of querer expresses both the want- ing and the follow-through action. The preterite affirmative of querer means “to try” or “to decide” (the wanting plus the action). The preterite negative of querer means “to refuse” (the action for not wanting). Quise abrir la puerta, pero no pude. Invité a María, pero ella no quiso venir. Tener In the preterite, tener rarely expresses possession. Possession is ongoing, and so it would require the imperfect. Instead, the preterite of tener expresses something that happened. We cannot use the preterite for “I had a bicycle,” but we can use it for “I had an accident.” Tuvimos muchos problemas con los caballos por toda la nieve en la montaña. Tuve un bebé a los treinta y un años.