Abrelatas

[Tomisimo]

The best way to think about the imperfect and preterit is the imperfect is used when you aren't specifying or don't want/need to stress a starting/ending time for the action. When you do want to specify the starting or ending time (or simply the fact that it has ended), then you use the preterit

Fui pelirojo = I was red-haired (for a time, but not anymore)
Era pelirojo = I was red-haired

[laepelba]

Thanks, David. I really need to study up on that. (Well, if Hernán allows me to do so.) It still pretty much seems the same to me ... which thus means that I don't have a good sense of it. I'm going to do some digging (here and in some other Spanish for Anglos websites) to read up on it. So many things I want to be sure to study about.......... :)

[chileno]

The best way to think about the imperfect and preterit is the imperfect is used when you aren't specifying or don't want/need to stress a starting/ending time for the action. When you do want to specify the starting or ending time (or simply the fact that it has ended), then you use the preterit

Fui pelirojo = I was red-haired (for a time, but not anymore)
Era pelirojo = I was red-haired

hmmm... So if I say: Era pelirrojo for a time, but not anymore, is wrong?

There must be something else to it, or I am wrong.