Pretérito vs Imperfecto Necesito ayudar con pretérito y imperfecto. I understand the preterit is used to describe completed actions in the past and the imperfect sets the background knowledge or scenery for a story. I'm currently learnings which words trigger each tense but have trouble identifying the different tenses. Any help with identification would be greatly appreciated. I included a few examples to see if I'm on the right track. He lived in Costa Rica – Preterite ? He was living in Costa Rica – Imperfect ? He spoke to my sister – Preterite ? He used to speak to my sister – Imperfect ? He was speaking to my sister – Imperfect ? She thought that we were friends – Imperfect ?