Preterite vs. Imperfect
I tell my level 2’s that -ó/-ió is ‘one time’ and -aba/-Ãa endings
mean “was-ing, were-ing, or used-to”. It works for them and it keeps
it simple. This is the only thing I tell them. When I ask, “What
does -aba mean?”, all I want to hear is “was-ing, were-ing, or used-
to”.
After a while when I feel that they are beginning to recognize
and “feel” the differences, we read the Bricklayer Story for grins
(Google it if you don’t have a copy).
Just my two cents.
Mark Webster
Spring Lake HS, MI
