Here, you will learn about the conjugations and all the uses of the Spanish preterite tense.
In addition, there are plenty of examples with audios to help you better understand the concepts and to practice your listening skills.
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CONTENTS
The Spanish Preterite Tense
The same as imperfect, the preterite tense in Spanish is used to talk about the past.
Unlike the imperfect, we use the preterite to talk about completed actions. Click here to learn more about preterite vs imperfect.
This tense is similar to the simple past in English.
How to Form the Preterite Tense
Abreviations: Subject pronoun (SUBJ. PRON.).
REGULAR VERBS
The only thing you need to know to conjugate the regular verbs are the endings.
There are two groups: -ar verbs, and -er/-ir verbs.
In this way, you just add the following endings to the infinitive form of the verb.
SUBJ. PRON. | - Ar VERBS | - Er/Ir VERBS |
---|---|---|
Yo | -é | -í |
Tú | -aste | -iste |
Él/ella/Ud. | -ó | -ió |
Nosotros/as | -amos | -imos |
Vosotros/as | -asteis | -isteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | -aron | -ieron |
Examples
Subj. Pron. | Cantar | Comer | Vivir |
---|---|---|---|
Yo | Canté | Comí | Viví |
Tú | Cantaste | Comiste | Viviste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Cantó | Comió | Vivió |
Nosotros/as | Cantamos | Comimos | Vivimos |
Vosotros/as | Cantasteis | Comisteis | Vivisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Cantaron | Comieron | Vivieron |
STEM-CHANGING VERBS
Verbs ending in -ar and -er, and salir
The stem-changing verbs ending in -ar and -er follow the same pattern as -ar and -er regular verbs.
Salir also follows a regular verb pattern.
EXAMPLES
Subj. Pron. | Pensar | Encender | Salir |
---|---|---|---|
Yo | Pensé | Encendí | Salí |
Tú | Pensaste | Encendiste | Saliste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Pensó | Encendió | Salió |
Nosotros/as | Pensamos | Encendimos | Salimos |
Vosotros/as | Pensasteis | Encendisteis | Salisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Pensaron | Encendieron | Salieron |
Verbs ending in -ir
Stem-changing verbs ending in -ir change in the preterite. They change e→i and o→u in the third person, singular and plural.
EXAMPLES
Subj. Pron. | Preferir | Dormir |
---|---|---|
Yo | Preferí | Dormí |
Tú | Preferiste | Dormiste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Prefirió | Durmió |
Nosotros/as | Preferimos | Dormimos |
Vosotros/as | Preferisteis | Dormisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Prefirieron | Durmieron |
SPELLING CHANGING VERBS
Verbs ending in gar, -car, and -zar
Verbs that end in -gar, -car, and -zar undergo spelling changes in the first person singular.
Ending | Examples | Change | To | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
-gar | Pagar | g | gu | Pagué |
-car | Buscar | c | qu | Busqué |
-zar | Comenzar | z | c | Comencé |
EXAMPLES
-gar Verbs | English | -car Verbs | English | -zar Verbs | English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apagar | To turn off | Aparcar | To park | Abrazar | To hug |
Colgar | To hang | Arrancar | To start up | Almorzar | To have lunch |
Despegar | To take off | Buscar | To look for | Comenzar | To start/to begin |
Entregar | To hand in/over | Clasificar | To classify | Cruzar | To cross |
Jugar | To play | Chocar | To crash | Destrozar | To destroy |
Llegar | To arrive | Identificar | To identify | Empezar | To start/to begin |
Madrugar | To get up early | Justificar | To justify | Lanzar | To throw |
Negar | To deny | Practicar | To practice | Organizar | To organize |
Pagar | To pay | Secar | To dry | Rechazar | To reject |
Regar | To water | Tocar | To play/to touch | Tropezar | To stumble/to fall over |
Verbs Ending in -uir, -aer, -eer, and -oír
The third person singular and plural of verbs that end in -uir, -aer, -eer, and -oír show a spelling change.
EXAMPLES
Subj. Pron. | Construir | Leer | Oír | Caer |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yo | Construí | Leí | Oí | Caí |
Tú | Construiste | Leíste | Oíste | Caíste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Construyó | Leyó | Oyó | Cayó |
Nosotros/as | Construimos | Leímos | Oímos | Caímos |
Vosotros/as | Construisteis | Leísteis | Oísteis | Caísteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Construyeron | Leyeron | Oyeron | Cayeron |
IRREGULAR VERBS
These are verbs whose conjugations you have to memorize. 😕
Ser and ir
Both verbs are conjugated the same way.
Subj. Pron. | Ser/Ir |
---|---|
Yo | Fui |
Tú | Fuiste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Fue |
Nosotros/as | Fuimos |
Vosotros/as | Fuisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Fueron |
Decir and traer
Other similar verbs are:
- Like decir (to say): traducir (to translate) and producir (to produce).
- Like traer (to bring): atraer (to attract) and contraer (to contract).
Subj. Pron. | Decir | Traer |
---|---|---|
Yo | Dije | Traje |
Tú | Dijiste | Trajiste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Dijo | Trajo |
Nosotros/as | Dijimos | Trajimos |
Vosotros/as | Dijisteis | Trajisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Dijeron | Trajeron |
Dar and ver
They are conjugated similar to -er and -ir verbs in the preterite.
Subj. Pron. | Dar | Ver |
---|---|---|
Yo | Di | Vi |
Tú | Diste | Viste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Dio | Vio |
Nosotros/as | Dimos | Vimos |
Vosotros/as | Disteis | Visteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Dieron | Vieron |
Tener, andar and estar
There are number of verbs that follow the same pattern as these verbs. While their stems change, they all have the following endings.
Subj. Pron. | Ending Verbs |
---|---|
Yo | -e |
Tú | -iste |
Él/ella/Ud. | -o |
Nosotros/as | -imos |
Vosotros/as | -isteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | -ieron |
Below you have the verbs with their stem changes.
Infinitive | Stem Change |
---|---|
Andar | Anduv- |
Estar | Estuv- |
Caber | Cup- |
Hacer | Hub- |
Poder | Pud- |
Poner | Pus- |
Querer | Quis- |
Saber | Sup- |
Tener | Tuv- |
Venir | Vin- |
EXAMPLES
Subj. Pron. | Andar | Estar | Tener |
---|---|---|---|
Yo | Anduve | Estuve | Tuve |
Tú | Anduviste | Estuviste | Tuviste |
Él/ella/Ud. | Anduvo | Estuvo | Tuvo |
Nosotros/as | Anduvimos | Estuvimos | Tuvimos |
Vosotros/as | Anduvisteis | Estuvisteis | Tuvisteis |
Ellos/as/Uds. | Anduvieron | Estuvieron | Tuvieron |
WHERE TO PRACTICE HOW TO FORM THE PRETERITE TENSE
Conjugations
Written Practice
- Spanish Demystified – Written Practice 1 and Written Practice 2 from Chapter 13 (pages 249-250).
Oral Practice
- Spanish Demystified – Oral Practice 1 from Chapter 13 (page251).
Quizzes
Gap Fill Exercises
- Preterite tense – Regulars and irregulars
- Preterite tense – Regular verbs
- -uve verbs – Preterite tense
- Estar – Preterite tense
- Ser verb – Preterite tense
- Preterite form of the verb IR (to go) – Beginner
- Preterite form of the verb VER – Beginner
Everything
Other Exercises
Uses of the Preterite Tense
The Spanish preterite tense describes past actions that are completed. However, there are other specific uses of the preterite.
COMPLETED ACTIONS
EXAMPLES
- Fui al parque. → I went to the park.
- Mis amigos fueron a la fiesta. → My friends went to the party.
SPECIFIC TIMES AND DATES
EXAMPLES
- Tuvimos una clase a la una. → We had a class at one o´clock.
- Me casé hace dos años. → I got married two years ago.
SINGLE EVENTS
EXAMPLES
- Ayer estudié. → I studied yesterday.
- Mis padres se fueron a las cinco. → My parents left at five o´clock.
REPEATED EVENTS
EXAMPLES
- Llamé tres veces. → I called three times.
- La semana pasada trabajé tres días. → Last week I worked three days.
EVENTS IN A SEQUENCE
EXAMPLES
- Me levanté y fui a la escuela. → I got up and I went to school.
- Ella vino, cogió sus cosas, y se fue. → She came, took her things, and left.
THE BEGINNING AND END ARE STATED
EXAMPLES
- Trabajamos desde las nueve hasta las tres. → We worked from nine to three.
- Mi hermano enseñó español desde el 1990 hasta el 2015. → My brother taught Spanish from 1990 to 2015.
BEGINNINGS AND ENDS
The verbs that you will use here are: empezar (to begin), comenzar (to begin), acabar (to finish) o terminar (to finish).
EXAMPLES
- Empezó a llover. → It started to rain.
- Terminaron de cenar tarde. → They ended dinner late.
Adverbs of Time and Adverbial Phrases
Below you have a list with the adverbs of time and adverbial phrases that trigger the preterite.
Spanish | English |
---|---|
A la (una) | At (one) |
Anoche | Last night |
Antenoche o anteanoche | The night before last |
Anteayer o antes de ayer | The day before yesterday |
Ayer | Yesterday |
Ayer por la mañana | Yesterday morning |
Ayer al mediodía | Yesterday at noon |
Ayer por la noche | Last night |
Ayer por la tarde | Yesterday afternoon |
Desde el primer momento | From the first moment |
Durante (dos) horas | For (two) hours |
El año pasado | Last year |
El (lunes) pasado | Last (Monday) |
El mes pasado | Last month |
El otro día | The other day |
En ese momento | At that moment |
Entonces | Then |
Esta mañana | This morning |
Esta tarde | This afternoon o evening |
Hace (dos) años | (Two) years ago |
Hace (tres) días | (Three) days ago |
Hace (cuatro) horas | (four) hours ago |
Hace un tiempo o un rato | A while ago |
Hoy por la mañana | This morning |
La semana pasada | Last week |
Una vez | One time |
Where to Practice Everything
Written Practice
- The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice – C, D, E, H, I, J, M, O, P and R from chapter 4 (pages 46-56)
Gap Fill Exercises
- The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice – B, F, G, K, L, N, Q from chapter 4 (pages 46-56).
- Preterite Tense – Exercises
Everything
- Preterite
- Activities – Type keyword ‘preterite’
- The preterite tense
- Past simple
Final Thoughts
I hope you are now able to understand better the use the Spanish preterite tense.
I recommend you to practice with the examples here and try to make some others on your own. Additionally, do as many grammar exercises as you can to get used to this verb tense. In addition, practice the language in general. One day, you will get to the point that you will know what tense to use just because it sounds “well”.
Additionally, If you want, I can help you practice with this tense by using it while having a conversation during our online Spanish conversation classes.
Finally, we can practice in the comment section below by answering the following questions:
- ¿Qué hiciste la semana pasada?
- ¿Cuándo empezaste a estudiar español?
- ¿Te levantaste y te fuiste al trabajo ayer?
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