CONTENT
The regular verbs of the indefinite preterite use two sets of conjugations for the three types of verbs, and there are just a few fully irregular verbs. Let's learn more about it.
Spanish
English
Ayer fuimos a bailar al antro.
Yesterday we went dancing at the club.
Reviewing the Uses of the Preterite
Rule 1. The preterite is used to narrate a series of events in the past or for events that have a concrete beginning and end. It is also used when you know specifying the end of the activity is important.
Spanish
English
El año pasado viajé con mis papás a Francia.
Last year I traveled with my parents to France.
Form of Regular Verbs in the Preterite
Rule 2. For verbs ending in -ar, add the following endings to their stem for each person respectively:
| Subject Pronoun | Preterite endings | -ar ending verbs such as hablar |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | hablé |
| tú | -aste | hablaste |
| él, ella, usted | -ó | habló |
| nosotros, nosotras | -amo | hablamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | -asteis | hablasteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aron | hablaron |
| Subject Pronoun | Preterite endings | -ar ending verbs such as hablar |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | hablé |
| tú | -aste | hablaste |
| él, ella, usted | -ó | habló |
| nosotros, nosotras | -amo | hablamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | -asteis | hablasteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aron | hablaron |
Spanish
English
Anoche hablamos casi 4 horas por télefono.
Last night we talked for almost 4 hours on the phone.
Rule 3. For verbs ending in -er and -ir, add the following endings to their stem for each person respectively:
| Subject Pronous | Preterite endings | -er ending verbs such as comer | -ir ending verbs such as escribir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -í | comí | escribí |
| tú | -iste | comiste | escribiste |
| él, ella, usted | -ío | comió | escribió |
| nosotros, nosotras | -imos | comimos | escribimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | -isteis | comisteis | escribisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -ieron | comieron | escribieron |
| Subject Pronous | Preterite endings | -er ending verbs such as comer | -ir ending verbs such as escribir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -í | comí | escribí |
| tú | -iste | comiste | escribiste |
| él, ella, usted | -ío | comió | escribió |
| nosotros, nosotras | -imos | comimos | escribimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | -isteis | comisteis | escribisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -ieron | comieron | escribieron |
Spanish
English
Ayer comieron juntos y después escribieron el ensayo.
Yesterday they had lunch together and then wrote the essay.
Note: It is very important that you add the accent mark to the yo, él, ella, and usted forms.
Rule 3. In -ar and -ir verbs, the preterite and the present tense forms of nosotros are identical. In this case, pay attention to the context to determine if it is referring to the present or past.
Spanish
English
Hablamos por teléfono anoche.
We spoke on the phone last night.
Hablamos por teléfono hoy en la mañana.
We spoke on the phone this morning.
Irregular Verbs in the Preterite
Rule 4. There are four completely irregular verbs in the preterite. These are ser, ir, dar, and ver.
| Subject Pronoun | Ir* | Ser* | Dar | Ver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | fui | di | vi |
| tú | fuiste | fuiste | diste | viste |
| él, ella, usted | fue | fue | dio | vio |
| nosotros, nosotras | fuimos | fuimos | dimos | vimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | fuisteis | fuisteis | disteis | visteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | fueron | fueron | dieron | vieron |
| Subject Pronoun | Ir* | Ser* | Dar | Ver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | fui | di | vi |
| tú | fuiste | fuiste | diste | viste |
| él, ella, usted | fue | fue | dio | vio |
| nosotros, nosotras | fuimos | fuimos | dimos | vimos |
| vosotros, vosotras | fuisteis | fuisteis | disteis | visteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | fueron | fueron | dieron | vieron |
* The verbs ir and estar are conjugated exactly the same in the preterite.
Spanish
English
Fuimos a patinar la semana pasada.
We went skating last week.
Fuimos grandes amigos cuando teníamos 10 años.
We were great friends when we were 10 years old.
There are two other irregular verbs that change only their root in the preterite. However, we will cover this in another entry.
Quiz
1/4
Anoche nosotras ___________ (comer) sushi y pizza.
0
correct answers.