Final answer:
The preterite tense in Spanish is for completed actions at a specific time, whereas the imperfect is for ongoing or habitual past actions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question preterite or imperfect relates to Spanish verb tenses. The preterite tense is used for actions that are viewed as completed within a specific time frame. This would correspond to examples like 'begin/began/begun', 'buy/bought/bought', and other verbs where a simple past tense is used (e.g., 'I bought a car yesterday').
On the other hand, the imperfect tense is used for actions that were ongoing in the past or used to happen regularly. This tense would be used for situations like 'used to/would...' when describing habitual actions in the past (e.g., 'I used to drive to school every day').
In English, the preterite and imperfect are two different past tense verb forms that indicate different types of actions or events. The preterite tense is used to describe a single completed action that happened in the past. It is used for specific actions or events that had a definite start and end point. For example, 'I bought a new car yesterday'.
On the other hand, the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past. It is used for actions or events that happened repeatedly, were in progress, or used to happen. For example, 'I used to go to the park every day when I was a child'.