![]() Great job! See how the endings change for each subject pronoun? One thing to note is that the preterite only exists in the indicative mood – you won’t find preterite conjugations for nosotros commands, subjunctive, etc. habla ó – She/You (formal) spokeĬomer: Yo com í – I ate Vosotros com isteis – You all ate Ellos com ieron – They ateĮscribir: Nosotros escrib imos – We wrote Ella escrib ió – She wrote Uds. Hablar: Yo ha blé – I spoke Tú habla ste – You spoke Ella/Ud. Let’s practice conjugating some regular preterite verbs: “Ellas eligieron la opción incorrecta.” – They chose the wrong option. “❺dónde fuiste de vacaciones?” – Where did you go on vacation? “Ella corrió cinco kilómetros ayer.” – She ran five kilometers yesterday. “Nosotros no pudimos salir anoche.” – We couldn’t go out last night. “Yo llamé a mi hermana ayer.” – I called my sister yesterday. – This sentence could mean both, we cooked and we cook rice. Note: The first person plural ( nosotros) endings for regular -ar and -ir verbs are the same for both the preterite and present tenses.Ĭocinamos arroz. Ok, let’s move on to some examples so you can get the hang of using the preterite tense in full sentences:Įxample of all three endings -ar, -er, -ir The accent falls on the last syllable for -ar verbs (habl é) and the second-to-last syllable for -er/-ir verbs (com í). See how thinking of the endings as forming distinctive shapes can help cement them in your memory?Īnother tip is to pay attention to the accent marks, especially for the “yo” form of each verb. The él/ella/Ud (he/she/you formal) ending is always -ó or -ió.The nosotros (we) and vosotros (you all) endings are always the same: -amos and -aron for -ar, -imos and -ieron for -er/-ir.For -er/-ir verbs, think of the endings as forming an I shape: í, iste, ió, imos, ieron.For -ar verbs, think of the endings as forming an A shape: é, aste, ó, amos, aron.Now let’s look at some helpful memory tips: Get the hang of those two conjugation patterns for preterite verbs and you’re halfway there! Viv í – I lived viv iste – you lived viv ió – he/she/it lived viv imos – we lived viv ieron – you all/they lived For -er and -ir verbs like “comer” (to eat) and “vivir” (to live), the endings are:Ĭom í – I ate com iste – you ate com ió – he/she/it ate com imos – we ate com ieron – you all/they ate.Habl é – I spoke habl aste – you spoke habl ó – he/she/it spoke habl amos – we spoke habl aron – you all/they spoke For -ar verbs like “hablar” (to speak), the preterite endings are:. ![]() There are two main conjugation patterns, so memorizing those is key. In Spanish, verbs have different endings in the preterite compared to other tenses. Must-Know Spanish Contractions, Slang, and Idioms More on that later! How to conjugate Spanish verbs in the preterite.įirst, what does it mean to conjugate a verb? Conjugation is when you take the verb stem and add different endings to indicate who is performing the action (I, you, he/she/it, we, you all, they). On the other hand, you use the imperfect tense for ongoing or repeated actions in the past. See how the preterite verbs “caminé” and “cenamos” express actions that occurred at a definite time in the past? The preterite is used for actions that started and finished in the past. ![]() “Anoche, nosotros cenamos en un restaurante elegante” – Last night, we ate at a fancy restaurant “Ayer, yo caminé al parque”- Yesterday, I walked to the park Think of it as the “simple past” – the tense for actions that were completed at a definite point in the past. So when would you use the preterite tense? The preterite is one of a few key ways to talk about the past. In English, we have the present tense (“I eat”), the past tense (“I ate”), and the future tense (“I will eat”).Īs you learn Spanish, you’ll find that it also has present, past, and future tenses. Tenses indicate when an action takes place. this site houses notes, examples and exercises to increase your understanding of how the preterite verbs are used.In this article, we’ll explore the preterite tense in Spanish (also called the pretérito or the simple past tense) in a way that makes perfect sentido (Sense).įirst, let’s talk about what verb tenses are in general. Familiarize yourself with these words by creating flashcards on quizlet ![]() Follow the link to practice your accent by repeating after the speaker.Ĭommon Vocabulary with the Preterite Tense: There are common words that you will see or use when the preterite tense is required. this site outlines the different forms of preterite Spanish verbs and provides a recording of how each is pronounced.
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