L.O – to learn how to form and use the PRETERITE tense in Spanish

The PRETERITE tense is used to talk about completed actions in the past. It is used: 1. in telling stories and for non descriptive events. 2. for actions that were completed in the past. (FINISHED events) 3. for actions in the past which happened only once. (SINGLE events) for actions that were repeated but finished in the past. (REPEATED events) for actions that were part of a chain of events. (CHAIN events) for actions that took place over a specific period of time. It can be used with the following expressions of time: ayer (yesterday), anteayer (the day before yesterday) , la semana pasada (last week), el mes/año pasado (last month/year), el otro día (the other day), hace dos días (2 days ago), en 1710.... etc Examples: Él cenó, vio la tele y se acostó. He had dinner, watched TV and went to bed. Ayer te llamé por teléfono. I rang you yesterday.

Notice the ‘we’ ending in –AR and –IR verbs is the same as There are two sets of regular endings to learn: 1. -AR 2. -ER/ -IR As with other tenses you have to: 1. take the infinitive. 2. take off the infinitive ending. 3. add the endings for the tense. -AR endings -ER / -IR endings Notice the ‘we’ ending in –AR and –IR verbs is the same as in the present tense. More detailed conjugations and exercises follow. -é -aste -ó -amos -aron -í -iste -ió -imos -ieron

He /she/ it spoke, did speak. ó Regular -AR verbs hablar = to speak / talk habl é I spoke, I did speak. You spoke, you did speak. aste He /she/ it spoke, did speak. ó amos We spoke, we did speak. Endings appear one by one on mouse click. aron They spoke, they did speak.

Regular -AR verbs Choose 3 of the verbs below and write them out in full: aceptar = to accept cantar = to sing llenar = to fill amar = to love charlar = to chat llorar= to cry arreglar = to fix dibujar = to draw mirar = to look at ayudar = to help entrar = to go in saltar = to jump bajar = to go down ganar = to win viajar = to travel bailar = to dance lavar = to wash tomar el sol – to sunbathe

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The preterite tense 6 Regular -ER verbs comer = to eat com í I ate, I did eat. iste You ate, you did eat. ió He / she / it ate, did eat. imos We ate, we did eat. Endings appear one by one on mouse click. ieron They ate, they did eat.

Regular -ER verbs Practise saying or writing out these other verbs. beber = to drink meter = to put correr = to run vender = to sell coser = to sew

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He / she / it opened, did open. Regular -IR verbs ABRIR= to open I opened, I did open. abr í iste You opened, you did open. ió He / she / it opened, did open. imos We opened, we did open. Endings appear one by one on mouse click. ieron They opened, they did open.

Regular -IR verbs Practise saying or writing out these other verbs. Like ABRIR batir = to beat escribir = to write cubrir = to cover permitir = to allow recibir = to receive

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Elige la forma del verbo más apropiada 1. (Tú) bebí/bebiste mucha Coca-Cola en la cafetería. 2. (Zara) visitó/visitaron Marruecos. 3. (Nosotros) escribimos/escribieron unas postales. 4. (yo) tomaste/tomé el sol en la playa. 5. (yo) compró/compré muchos regalos.

explicaste you explained explicó he/she/it explained Stem changing verbs The first group of irregular verbs are only slightly irregular as they show stem changes* in the first person singular only. There are three types: 1. Verbs which end in –GAR change to GUÉ 2. Verbs which end in –CAR change to QUÉ 3. Verbs which end in –ZAR change to CÉ jugar = to play jugué I played jugaste you played jugó he/she/it played jugamos we played jugasteis you played jugaron they played explicar = to explain expliqué I explained explicaste you explained explicó he/she/it explained explicamos we explained explicasteis you explained explicaron they explained cruzar = to cross crucé I crossed cruzaste you crossed cruzó he/she/it crossed cruzamos we crossed cruzasteis you crossed cruzaron they crossed *The stem changes occur in order to preserve the sound of the infinitive.

Stem changing verbs The following verbs work in the same way. Can you write out three of them in full? apagar = to put out acercarse = to approach cazar = to hunt cargar = to load atacar = to attack empezar = to begin descargar = to unload buscar = to look for organizar = to organize entregar = to hand over secar = to dry rezar = to pray llegar = to arrive pescar = to fish utilizar = to use navegar = to sail chocar contra = to crash into pagar = to pay sacar = to take out regar= to water marcar = to score a goal, tocar= to touch dial a number almorzar = to have lunch

1. (I) ______________(comprar) un vestido bonito. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in the preterite tense 1. (I) ______________(comprar) un vestido bonito. 2. (you (singular) ______________( tomar) el sol. 3. (I) ______________( comer) chocolate. 4. (We) ____________( bailar) en las discotecas. 5. (Maria)_________________(pasar) una semana en Valencia. 6. (I) _______________(ir) de vacaciones. 7. (We) ____________(ir) a Paris.

Irregular verbs in preterite- no accents! Ir – to go / ser – to be Tener – to have Fui- I went Tuve Fuiste –you went Tuviste Fue – he/she went Tuvo Fuimos – we went Tuvimos Fueron – they went Tuvieron Hacer – to do/ to make Hice – I did Hiciste – you did Hizo – he/she did Hicimos – we did Hicieron – they did