Preterite vs. He something-ido (or ado)

[Oldman]

Is there a difference in meaning between, say. " He vivido" and "Vivía? I'm sure there is, but what would be a good example of where one method (preterite) is clearly better or worse than He ido/ado ?

Thanks.

[Rusty]

Haber + participio es ejemplo de un verbo compuesto. (English: "auxiliary verb 'have' + past participle" is an example of a compound verb, used particularly to form the 'perfect' tenses.)
'He' is the first person present tense form of 'haber'. This is used to form the present perfect tense. In Spanish, this is known as el pretérito perfecto compuesto.
he hablado = I have spoken, has comido = you have eaten, hemos ido = we have gone

The past tense forms of 'haber' are used to form the past perfect tense. English has only one past perfect tense.
In Spanish, it's called el pretérito anterior (English: auxiliary verb 'had' + past participle = past perfect).
hube hablado = I had spoken, hubiste comido = you had eaten, hubimos ido = we had gone

The other Spanish past tense form of 'haber' takes the imperfect endings. In Spanish, this tense is called el pretérito pluscuamperfecto. It's translation into English will unfortunately look like the past perfect, but it needs to be perceived as ongoing in the past.
yo había hablado = I had spoken, habías comido = you had eaten, habíamos ido = we had gone

'Vivía' es ejemplo del pretérito imperfecto (English: = (I, he, she) was living (this is our past continuous tense, but it is equivalent to the Spanish imperfect tense (ongoing, repeated, habitual action))).
yo hablaba = I was speaking, comías = you were eating, íbamos = we were going


"Viví' es ejemplo del pretérito simple (English: I lived (past simple (or preterit)).
hablé = I spoke, comiste = you ate, fuimos = we went


As you can see, each has a specific meaning. There is no overlap.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Rusty.

I'll add a usage note though:
There is no overlap between "he vivido" and "vivía, but there is a little overlap between "he vivido" and "viví", because in Spain a finished action in the past is expressed with "pretérito perfecto compuesto" ("he vivido"), and in Mexico and other parts of Latin America we normally prefer "pretérito simple" ("viví").

In Spain they say: He vivido doce años en México.
That means they lived for 12 years in Mexico, but they no longer live there. A Mexican would say the same with "pretérito simple": "Viví 12 años en México".
But if a Mexican says: "He vivido doce años en México", it means they have been living there for the last twelve years and they still live there.

- He ido a la playa en verano.
If a Spaniard says this, it means they went to the beach last summer.
If a Mexican says this, it means we have gone to the beach during past summers and we may have plans to do it again some time next summers. If we mean that we went on holidays last summer, we'll say "Fui a la playa en verano".

- ¿Has comprado ropa para los niños?
In Spain is asking if you bought clothes for the children.
In Mexico is asking if you have (ever) bought clothes for the children; otherwise, we'd ask "¿Compraste ropa para los niños?".

[Rusty]

This same difference can be seen in BrE and AmE. The British side with the Spanish and the Americans with Mexico and Central America. I can't speak for South America.

[Oldman]

can we use preterite and/or imperfect on the verb haber followed by a verb to give additional meanings ? How would you say :I had eaten, I had (just) eaten.

[Rusty]

Both (yo) hube comido and yo había comido are valid verb conjugations in Spanish. You can conjugate the auxiliary verb haber into all tenses and moods, as needed. This will be followed by the participio.
See all the conjugations of comer here or here.
The first link is the information provided here, on Tomísimo. The second link provides more information, including the participio (they add 'pasado' after participio, but that isn't necessary). Note that some verbs have irregular participios, like ver and poner, for starters. You can check these out while you're looking at all the possible conjugations of a verb. Just enter another infinitive.

When each verb conjugation should be used depends on the meaning you want to convey.

As has been stated, Spain and Mexico (and Central America) interpret the pretérito simple and the pretérito perfecto compuesto tenses a little differently, just like there's a difference between BrE and AmE past tense and present perfect tense, so keep that in mind. (As a beginner, I would learn how they use the perfect tense in the place I intend to speak Spanish.)

Your last question employs two tenses we haven't discussed-the pretérito anterior and the pretérito pluscuamperfecto. (I just added information about them to post #2 for completeness, but the thread title doesn't make mention of them.)

'I had eaten' could be either 'hube comido' or 'yo había comido', each conveying a different past tense meaning. We need to see an entire sentence to provide a proper translation.

Because 'just' can have more than one meaning, 'I had just eaten' could take the 'pretérito pluscuamperfecto' form-'Justo había comido'-or we might want to use an entirely different phrase and employ the imperfect tense, like 'Acababa de comer'. Again, we'd need to see an entire sentence to give you the proper translation.

I suggest you learn one thing at a time. It'll make things less complex and less confusing.

[Oldman]

thanks....AT this point, I am 'supposed to know ' present, preterite, and imperfect', along with 'acaba de' according to the textbook I'm working with. I'm picking up ido.ado and conjugation of haber on the side. Technically, I am about half-way done with Spanish 2 in college, having given up on the trapeze due to aging

[Rusty]

OK. You're doing pretty good, then. The textbook choices of beginner's tenses are standard fare. You need to be able to talk about the present and the past, so those three are taught first.
Most native speakers have no idea about grammar, whatever the language they speak. Textbooks may not state it, but they teach the grammar. They may not give everything a grammatical term, but I can say that most English speakers have no idea what preterit and imperfect mean, especially since English has only one past tense.
English speakers can learn how the two grammars compare, however, and most textbooks go down that path.
This is where I think you're at. I believe you're trying to relate an English phrase to a Spanish phrase, using ideas you've learned.

The problem is, the grammars are not the same between languages.
Spanish verb structures aren't always a one-to-one match. How Spanish adjectives and adverbs are used differs from English usage (and even English adverb usage can differ from country to country). It's an uphill battle, to be sure.

I can understand why you gave up the trapeze, though.

I've tried to introduce you to Spanish grammar terms so you can get help online. You'll find lots of sites with lots of examples, many of them free to use. The reason I taught you phrases like 'auxiliary verb' and past participle is so you can use them instead of 'he' and 'ado/ido' (the first is merely the 1st person present tense form of 'haber' and some verbs have irregular participios-see 'poner'). That way, you'll not be confused by a question like «¿Has puesto los zapatos?».

[Oldman]

You make many good points....Many years ago when I was still studying to be a surgeon, I had had a few years of German and to this day, I can still 'think' in German when I want to say something in German (even though it's been decades). I don't have to first think in English and translate to German in my mind and then speak.


Don't know if I will get to the same point with Spanish - guess I will see - but I think this is a goal that I need to try and figure out how to do.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

You will. It's just a matter of practice.