What Does copreterite Mean
The notion of copreterite , proposed by the Venezuelan-Chilean humanist Andrés Bello , alludes to the past imperfect . It is a verb tense characterized by generally referring to an action that took place simultaneously with another pass .
In the copretérito, the temporal limits are not usually very relevant. The copreterite verb , in fact, does not define if the process has already been completed or if it is still in development.
A frequent use of the copreterite is when two past actions are carried out at the same time . For example: "The children played while their parents talked kindly . " In this case "they played" and "conversed" are verbs conjugated in copreterite. The sentence expresses that the little ones had fun at the same time that their parents chatted.
The copreterito also appears to oppose a habit from the past to a behavior different from the present : "Before I always had junk food for lunch, but now I choose salads" , "Although in my youth I smoked, later I was able to quit smoking . "
The descriptions that do not have continuity in the present can be developed based on the co-past: “The young people wept without consolation before the body of the teacher and tried to console each other; Outside the funeral room, the sky was dark and it didn't stop snowing ” .
Another use of the copretérito appears in the formulas of courtesy : "Looking for something, madam?" , "Did you need help, sir?" .
It is important to bear in mind that, in our language , there are irregular verbs such as ver , ir and ser with particular conjugations. For the rest, in the copretérito, inflections must be added as -aba , -abas , -aban , -abais , -ábamos , -ia , - ies , - ian , -íais and -íamos .