What is the difference between the perfect and imperfect tenses?

The imperfect, sometimes known as the simple past, and the perfect tenses are used in German to describe events that occurred in the past. Where English has one way to form the past tense, German has two. Theoretically, their meanings are virtually the same. For example: "Ich habe Golf gespielt." (perfect), and "Ich spielte Golf." (imperfect) These both mean "I played golf." in English. The difference lies more in when to use which. Colloquially and in spoken German, the perfect tense is vastly preferred, but the imperfect tense is used for written and formal language. There are also some regional factors. The imperfect is used more often in parts of northern Germany, while the more south you go, especially in Bavaria and Austria, the more the perfect is used.