Preterite Tense

Introduction

The preterite (el pretérito indefinido de indicativo) is a Spanish past tense. We use it for completed past actions, facts or general truths in the past or to express an action that interrupts a second action.

Learn to conjugate -ar, -er, -ir verbs in the preterite indicative tense. Master the grammar rules and get tips on when to use this tense then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises. In tense comparison, you will find an overview of all the tenses in Spanish grammar.

Example

El año pasado llegó una chica nueva a clase. Era china, de Pekín. Con un mapa nos explicó todo sobre su país y su ciudad.

Me encantó conocerla, pero justo cuando empezábamos a ser amigos de verdad tuvo que marcharse. Fue una verdadera lástima. Me quedé muy triste.

When to use the preterite tense in Spanish grammar

The preterite tense in the indicative mood works similarly to the simple past tense in English. We use the preterite to express:

completed actions and events that took place in the past

Example:

El año pasado llegó una chica nueva a clase.

Con un mapa, nos explicó todo sobre su país y su ciudad.

Me encantó conocerla, …

Fue una verdadera lástima.

Me quedé muy triste.
an action that interrupts another action that was already in progress; the background action is expressed in the imperfect tense

Example:

Justo cuando empezábamos a ser amigos de verdad tuvo que marcharse.

Preterite or imperfect?

There is more than one past tense in Spanish grammar. Many Spanish learners have difficulty understanding the difference between imperfect indicative and preterite indicative.

Learn how and when to use each tense with the tense comparison: imperfect or preterite.

How to conjugate the preterite tense in Spanish

To conjugate verbs in the preterite tense (pretérito indefinido), we replace the infinitive endings -ar, -er, -ir verb endings with the following endings. Note that the endings for -er and -ir verbs are the same:

Person	-ar		-er/-ir
Person	Endings	hablar	Endings	aprender	-ir vivir
yo	-é	hablé	-í	aprendí	viví
tú	-aste	hablaste	-iste	aprendiste	viviste
el/ella/usted	-ó	habló	-iò	aprendió	vivió
nosotros/-as	-amos	hablamos	-imos	aprendimos	vivimos
vosotros/-as	-asteis	hablasteis	-isteis	aprendisteis	vivisteis
ellos/-as/ustedes	-aron	hablaron	-ieron	aprendieron	vivieron

Reflexive Verbs

When we use a reflexive verb in the preterite tense, the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) always comes before the verb.

Example:: (yo) me mudé; (tú) te mudaste; (él) se mudó; (nosotros) nos mudamos; (vosotros) os mudasteis; (ellos) se mudaron

Irregular Conjugations

Some verbs have irregular conjugations in the preterite tense.

There are some verbs that change their stem and take the preterite endings: -e, -íste, -o, -imos, -ísteis, -ieron/-eron.

Infinitive	Irregular Stem	Preterite Conjugation (yo, tú, él, nosotros, vosotros, ellos)
andar	anduv-	anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron
caber	cup-	cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron
dar	d-	di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron
decir	dij-	dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron
estar	estuv-	estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
haber	hub-	hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron
hacer	hic-/hiz-	hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
poder	pud-	pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
poner	pus-	puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
querer	quis-	quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron
saber	sup-	supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
tener	tuv-	tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
traer	traj-	traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron
venir	vin-	vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron
ver	v-	vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron

The verbs ser and ir are identical in the preterite tense. We know from the context which verb is meant.

Person	ser	ir
yo	fui	fui
tú	fuiste	fuiste
él	fue	fue
nosotros/-as	fuimos	fuimos
vosotros/-as	fuisteis	fuisteis
ellos/-as	fueron	fueron

Some –ir verbs, change their stem in the 3^rd person singular and plural (-e → -i, -o → -u).

Example:

pedir – pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron

dormir – dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
Verbs that end in –ucir, change –uc to -uj. The endings of these verbs are irregular (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -eron).

Example:

traducir – traduje, tradujiste, tradujo, tradujimos, tradujisteis, tradujeron
For verbs ending in a vowel + -er/-ir, we change –i to a –y in the 3^rd person singular and plural form.

Example:

caer – caí, caíste, cayó, caímos, caísteis, cayeron

distribuir – distribuí, distribuiste, distribuyó, distribuimos, distribuisteis, distribuyeron

leer – leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron

oír – oí, oíste, oyó, oímos, oísteis, oyeron
Sometimes, we have to change the final consonant of certain -ar verbs in the 1^st person singular in order to preserve the pronunciation.

Example:: c becomes qu → atracar – atraqué; g becomes gu → colgar – colgué; gu becomes gü → averiguar – averigüé; z becomes c → empezar – empecé

For verbs ending in –ll/-ñ + -er/-ir, we remove the final –i in the 3^rd person singular and plural.

Example:

tañer – tañó/tañeron (not: ~~tañió/tañieron~~)

bullir – bulló/bulleron (not: ~~bullió/bullieron~~)

https://espanol.lingolia.com/en/grammar/tenses/preterito-indefinido

24. November 2020

Preterite vs Imperfect

Many students have trouble knowing when to use the preterite tense or the imperfect tense, as they both refer to actions in the past. There are several general rules you can follow to know when to use one tense or another. Additionally, many Spanish phrases tend to be used only with the preterite or only with the imperfect, so memorizing them is very helpful! In this article, we’ll take a look at the general uses of both tenses, as well as helpful “trigger” phrases.

Pair Work

One way this pair of tenses is often used is to talk about an ongoing action or event that was interrupted in the past. In such case, the interrupted action is given in the imperfect tense, while the interrupting action is given in the preterite.

For example:

EXAMPLES
Caminaba por el centro cuando me encontré con el hermano de mi mejor amiga. I was walking downtown when I ran into my best friend’s brother.
Lourdes y Marco hablaban del examen cuando llegué a clase. Lourdes and Marco were talking about the test when I got to class.

The Preterite

Generally, the preterite is used for completed actions (actions that have definite beginning and end points.) These can be actions that can be viewed as single events, actions that were part of a chain of events, actions that were repeated a very specific number of times, or actions that specifically state the beginning and end of an action.

Check out these examples:

EXAMPLES
Fui al baile anoche. I went to the dance last night.
Caminé al mercado, compré unos plátanos, y regresé a casa. I walked to the market, bought some bananas, and returned home
Te llamó tres veces. He called you three times.
Hablé con mi madre de las dos hasta las tres. I spoke with my mother from two o’clock until three o’clock.

Useful Phrases that Trigger the Preterite

There are many helpful words and phrases that indicate specific time frames, therefore signaling that the preterite should be used. Here are a few:

SPANISH	ENGLISH	SPANISH	ENGLISH
una vez	one time	el otro día	the other day
ayer	yesterday	entonces	then
anteayer	the day before yesterday	anteanoche	the night before last
ayer por la mañana	yesterday morning	ayer al mediodía	yesterday at noon
anoche	last night	ayer por la noche	last night
esta mañana	this morning	esta tarde	this afternoon
la semana pasada	last week	el mes pasado	last month
el año pasado	last year	en ese momento	at that moment
ayer por la tarde	yesterday afternoon	hoy por la mañana	this morning
hace (dos) años	(two) years ago	hace (dos) días	(two) days ago
el (lunes) pasado	last (Monday)	la semana pasada	last week
durante (tres) siglos	for (three) centuries	desde el primer momento	from the first moment

Verbs that are Preterite by Nature

Some verbs used to talk about events with a very definite beginning and end are almost always used in the preterite. Here are a few examples.

SPANISH	ENGLISH	SPANISH	ENGLISH
casarse	to get married	graduarse	to graduate
cumplir años	to turn a certain age	llegar	to arrive
darse cuenta de	to realize	morir	to die
decidir	to decide	nacer	to be born
descubrir	to discover	salir	to leave

The Imperfect

The imperfect tense is generally used for actions in the past that do not have a definite end. These can be actions that are not yet completed or refer to a time in general in the past. It can also be used to talk about:

actions that were repeated habitually
actions that set the stage for another past tense event
time and dates
a person’s age in the past
characteristics
mental or physical states

Check out these examples:

EXAMPLES
Cuando era niña, jugaba con muñecas. When I was a child, I used to play with dolls.
Los chicos hablaban en español. The boys were speaking in Spanish.
Estaba durmiendo cuando el teléfono sonó. I was sleeping when the telephone rang.
Cuando tenía tres años, era muy pequeño. When he was three years old, he was very small

Useful Phrases that Trigger the Imperfect

Here are some helpful words and phrases that often signal that a verb should be used in the imperfect.

SPANISH	ENGLISH	SPANISH	ENGLISH
a menudo	often	frecuentemente	frequently
rara vez	rarely	a veces	sometimes
generalmente	usually	siempre	always
algunas veces	at times	mientras	while
tantas veces	so many times	todos los años	every year
cada día	every day	muchas veces	many times
todas las semanas	every week	todo el tiempo	all the time
con frecuencia	frequently	casi nunca	almost never
mucho	a lot	nunca	never
por lo general	generally	todos los días	every day
de vez en cuando	once in a while	por un rato	for a while
en aquella época	at that time	varias veces	several times

https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/preterite-vs-imperfect-in-spanish

29. September 2020

Preterite

The Spanish preterite tense (el pretérito o el pretérito perfecto simple) is used to describe actions completed at a point in the past.

The Spanish preterite is not used to describe habitual or continuous actions in the past with no specific beginning or end. In such cases, the imperfect tense is used.

Regular Spanish Preterite Forms

There are only two sets of endings for regular preterite verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. To conjugate a regular verb in the preterite tense, simply remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) and add the preterite ending that matches the subject. Check out the table of regular preterite endings below.

Regular Preterite Verb Endings

SUBJECT	-AR VERBS	-ER AND -IR VERBS
yo	-é	-í
tú	-aste	-iste
él, ella, usted	-ó	-ió
nosotros	-amos	-imos
vosotros	-asteis	-isteis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-aron	-ieron

Keep an Eye on the Accents

Note that the first person singular (yo), third person singular (él, ella), and second person formal singular (usted) preterite forms have tildes

(written accents) on the final vowel. Keep in mind that one little tilde can change both the tense and subject of a sentence. For example:With a tilde:

EXAMPLES
Mandó una carta. He/She sent a letter.

Without a tilde:

EXAMPLES
Mando una carta. I send a letter.

Present and Past Nosotros

The first person plural (nosotros) endings for regular -ar and -ir verbs are the same for both the preterite and present tenses. Context clues, such as adverbs like siempre (always) and ayer (yesterday), can help you figure out if a nosotros form refers to the past or the present.

EXAMPLES
Siempre cocinamos paella los domingos. We always cook paella on Sundays.
Ayer cocinamos paella para mi familia. Yesterday we cooked paella for my family.

Irregular Spanish Preterite Forms

Four of the most common verbs with irregular preterite forms are ser, ir, dar, and ver. For more on tricky preterite forms, check out our article here.

Irregular Preterite Verb Conjugations

SUBJECT	SER (TO BE)	IR (TO GO)	DAR (TO GIVE)	VER (TO SEE)
yo	fui	fui	di	vi
tú	fuiste	fuiste	diste	viste
él, ella, usted	fue	fue	dio	vio
nosotros	fuimos	fuimos	dimos	vimos
vosotros	fuisteis	fuisteis	disteis	visteis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	fueron	fueron	dieron	vieron

Seeing Double

Note that ser and ir have the exact same forms in the preterite.

Uses of the Preterite

The preterite is used to talk about completed actions in the past. More specifically, it is used to talk about beginnings and ends, things that took place on specific days or dates, at specific times or during specific time periods, and events in a sequence.

1. Completed Events

The preterite is used to talk about completed events, especially those with very clear beginnings and ends.

EXAMPLES
Compré un coche nuevo. I bought a new car.
Ben y Cristina se casaron. Ben and Cristina got married.
Roberto nació en Costa Rica. Roberto was born in Costa Rica.

2. Beginnings and Ends

Beginnings and ends themselves are also talked about using the preterite. Key verbs you’ll see used to talk about beginnings and ends in the past are empezar (to begin), comenzar (to begin), terminar (to finish), and acabar (to end).

EXAMPLES
Empezó a nevar. It began to snow.
La película terminó con una sorpresa. The movie ended with a surprise.

3. Specific Times and Dates

The preterite is used to talk about past events or actions that occurred on specific days or dates, at specific times, and during specific time periods.

EXAMPLES
Regresé anoche a las diez. I got back last night at ten.
Vivió en Perú por tres meses. He lived in Peru for three months.
Leíste este libro el mes pasado. You read this book last month.
Nacho nació el tres de agosto. Nacho was born on August third.

4. Events in a Sequence

The preterite is used for listing past events that took place in a sequence.

EXAMPLES
Me levanté, me vestí, y salí para la fiesta. I got up, got dressed, and left for the party.
Tú entraste, bebiste un vaso de agua y comiste una hamburguesa. You came in, drank a glass of water, and ate a hamburger.

Looking for information on the differences between the preterite and the imperfect? Check out this article!

Fuente https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/spanish-preterite-tense-forms