Spanish Preterite vs Imperfect: Conti-Style Grammar Worksheet

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THIS RESOURCE

A ready-to-print, Conti-style Spanish preterite vs imperfect worksheet that shows students which past tense to use, with a rule box and full answers.

Choosing between the preterite and the imperfect is one of the hardest decisions students make in Spanish. This worksheet gives them a clear way to decide (completed action or background?), then takes them step by step from labelling tenses in a short text to choosing correctly in their own sentences.

Two pages that print double-sided, plus a separate answer page. Use it as a lesson, starter, homework, cover lesson or revision task.

WHAT’S INSIDE

Page 1: Reference and reading
When to use each tense, set out side by side, with the classic “was …-ing when …” pattern
Signal words that usually trigger each tense (ayer, de repente / siempre, mientras)
Sentence builder: background (imperfect) + cuando + what happened (preterite)
Task 1: Short reading text. Students label each past verb P or I

Page 2: Practice
Task 2: Choose the right tense
Task 3: Which tense? Students write the verb in the tense they choose
Task 4: Translate into English
Task 5: Translate into Spanish
Task 6: Challenge. A story gap-fill where students decide between scene-setting and events

Answer page
Answers for every task, with the reason for each choice in Task 1

WHY THIS ONE’S DIFFERENT

Built on Gianfranco Conti’s Extensive Processing Instruction (EPI) methodology. Students process the structure receptively before they produce it, moving from labelling tenses in context, to choosing, to translation in both directions, to applying the rule in a short story.

The two tenses are colour-coded throughout, so students see the background and the event as two separate jobs.

The answer key explains the reason for each tense in Task 1, so teachers can use it to discuss the decision, not just mark it.

The English-to-Spanish sentences only use language students have already met on the sheet.

FORMAT

Fully editable PowerPoint, A4 portrait. Two worksheet pages designed for double-sided printing, plus a separate answer page.

Part of a Conti-style Spanish grammar worksheet series. Also available: The Imperfect Tense and The Preterite: Irregular Verbs.
Last updated: 7 October 2026.