Question: what is the difference between present and preterite in spanish?
Answer: The Spanish use the preterite for any happening in the past that is finished with, at a given point in time, such as yesterday. Ayer fui a la playa. ... the preterite is used when you mean it has no connection with the present or the " time frame " close to you, like yesterday, last week, monday , 3 years ago etc.