Difference between hablaba and hablé

[hola]

whats the difference between hablaba and hable? like if i wanted to say i spoke w/ you yesterday

yo hablaba contigo ayer or yo hable contigo ayer

it looks like one belongs to the indicativo and the other belongs to the subjunctivo but its hard to fully understand the difference between the two.

you also see it w/ the words necesitaba and necesite

tu ves and tu veas would be another example of the confusion

its hard to know when to use which

[Rusty]

Hablaba is in the imperfect tense, while hablé is in the preterite. Note the accent in the second. If the talking is a complete action of the past, the latter (hablé) is used. If the talking was ongoing in the past and you wish to convey that fact, or if the action is still occurring, you would use the former (hablaba).
Necesitaba and necesité are of the same two conjugations I mentioned above.

Ves and veas, on the other hand, are indicative and subjunctive.

Verb conjugations and knowing when to use them is a hard concept to grasp all at once, but stick with it. It's very important to recognize the difference. In other posts, I have given links to conjugator sites (including the one here in Tomísimo). You need to understand each tense before you can begin to select the right verb conjugation for each situation.

I spoke with you yesterday. (action completed in the past)
Hablé contigo ayer.

I spoke with you yesterday while you were shopping. (ongoing action in the past)
=I was speaking with you yesterday while you were shopping.
Hablaba contigo ayer ...

[CrOtALiTo]

I've spoken with you yesterday.

I spoke with you yesterday.

Regards.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo

I've spoken with you yesterday.

I spoke with you yesterday.

Regards.

No suena bien usar he hablado + ayer en inglés. De hecho, no suena bien usar cualquier expresión, salvo before o in the past. También puede decirlo sin el adverbio y se entenderá in the past.

I've spoken with you before. (Before could mean yesterday or prior to then.)
I've spoken with you in the past. (In the past could also mean the same thing as before.)
I spoke with you two days ago. (It's OK to use days here.)
I spoke with you yesterday. (Again, this is OK.)
I've spoken with you two days ago.
I've spoken with you yesterday.
I've spoken with you. (Not specifying when is also OK. We assume 'in the past'.)

[CrOtALiTo]

Thanks Rusty, for your comments.

[chanman]

Originally Posted by Rusty

No suena bien usar he hablado + ayer en inglés. De hecho, no suena bien usar cualquier expresión, salvo before o in the past. También puede decirlo sin el adverbio y se entenderá in the past.

I've spoken with you before. (Before could mean yesterday or prior to then.)
I've spoken with you in the past. (In the past could also mean the same thing as before.)
I spoke with you two days ago. (It's OK to use days here.)
I spoke with you yesterday. (Again, this is OK.)
I've spoken with you two days ago.
I've spoken with you yesterday.
I've spoken with you. (Not specifying when is also OK. We assume 'in the past'.)

yo no soy un hispanohablante; yo sé sólo el poco español que aprendo en escuela; si hago muchos errores, lo siento. Actualmente, puedes usar frases como "many times (muchos veces)" cuando usando "have spoken".
También, correcta mi español, por favor, si tiene errores.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by chanman

(yo) No soy un hispanohablante. (yo) Sé sólo el poco español que aprendo en la escuela. Si hago muchos errores, lo siento. Realmente, puedes usar frases como "many times (muchas veces)" cuando usas "have spoken".
También, corrige mi español, por favor, si hay errores.

¡Bienvenido a los foros!
Si tienes preguntas sobre lo que corregí, házmelas.

Lo que dije cuando hablaba con Crotalito no descartó lo de 'muchas veces', ni excluyó los demás adverbios. Solo le corregí una frase errónea.

[chanman]

¡Muchas gracias!
¿Eres hispanohablante nativo?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by chanman

¿Eres hispanohablante nativo?

Soy estadounidense y mi lengua materna es el inglés.

[chanman]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Soy estadounidense y mi lengua materna es el inglés.

Wau. ¿Tú lo estudió en el colégio?