Information retrieved from studyspanish.com EL PRETÉRITO Spanish Completed past tense Information retrieved from studyspanish.com

Spanish has two past tenses Preterite Imperfect Spanish has two past tenses: preterite and imperfect. Most verbs can be put into either tense, depending upon the meaning. Today we will concentrate only on the preterite tense.

What is the preterite? The preterite tense is used as the completed past tense. We watched TV last night. The bell rang. Last year I went to Madrid. The preterite tells us specifically when an action took place. Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed. Use of the preterite tense implies that the past action had a definite beginning and definite end.

Formation of the preterite tense 3 sets of endings: -ar verbs -er, -ir verbs irregular verbs

What does the preterite mean? The preterite verb can be translated 2 ways: Hablé = I spoke I did speak

-ar verbs forms To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following: é amos aste asteis ó aron

ejemplo: hablar hablé hablamos hablaste hablasteis habló hablaron

To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following: í imos iste isteis ió ieron

ejemplos comer vivir comí viví comiste viviste comió vivió comimos vivimos comisteis vivisteis comieron vivieron

The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events. ･Ella caminó por el parque.･She walked through the park. ･Ellos llegaron a las ocho.･They arrived at eight o'clock.

The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times, or occurred during a specific period of time. ･Ayer escribí tres cartas.･Yesterday I wrote three letters.･ ･Vivimos allí por cuatro años.･We lived there for four years.

The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events. ･Ella se levantó, se vistió, y salió de la casa. ･She got up, dressed, and left the house.

The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action. ･Empezó a nevar a las ocho de la mañana. ･It began to snow at eight in the morning.

The previous examples all fall within our general rule for using the preterite: The preterite is used for past actions that are seen as completed.

Los verbos irregulares As in the present tense, there are irregulars in the preterite. Some have simple stem modifications, and some are just strange!

A number of verbs that are irregular in the preterite follow a particular pattern. While their stems change, they all take the following endings: -e -imos -iste -isteis -o -ieron

These verbs have stem changes: Infinitive Stem Change andar anduv- estar estuv- tener tuv- caber cup- haber hub- poder pud- poner pus- saber sup- hacer hic- querer quis- venir vin

Here are two examples of how this pattern is applied: ･estar (estuv-) estuve estuviste estuvo estuvimos estuvisteis estuvieron ･saber (sup-) supe supiste supo supimos supisteis supieron Note: The one exception is the third person singular of hacer. The c changes to z to form "hizo.”

What happens with stem-changing verbs from the present tense? -ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the preterite. They are conjugated just like other regular preterite verbs.

Ejemplo: Present Preterite entender entender entiendo entendí entiendes entendiste entiende entendió entendemos entendimos entendéis entendisteis entienden entendieron

-ar verbs Present Preterite cerrar cerrar cierro cerré cierras cerraste cierra cerró cerramos cerramos cerráis cerrasteis cierran cerraron

-ir verbs that change their stem in the present tense do change in the preterite, but in a different way. They change e:i and o:u in the third person, singular and plural.

Present Preterite preferir preferir prefiero preferí prefieres preferiste prefiere prefirió preferimos preferimos preferéis preferisteis prefieren prefirieron

Present Preterite dormir dormir duermo dormí duermes dormiste duerme durmió dormimos dormimos dormís dormisteis duermen durmieron

In order to preserve the sound of the infinitive, a number of verbs change orthographically (spelling) in the preterite tense. The following changes occur in the "yo" form only: ･Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu ･Verbs that end in -car change c to qu ･Verbs that end in -zar change z to c

Here are three examples: ･yo jugué (jugar) ･yo busqué (buscar) ･yo almorcé (almorzar)

Common verbs with these spelling changes: jugar buscar almorzar llegar praticar cazar pagar sacar empezar rogar tocar cruzar organizar

For verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer, the él/ella/usted forms use the ending "yó" (rather than ió) and the third person plural uses the ending "yeron" (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter "i."

･creer creí creíste creyó creímos creísteis creyeron

Other verbs like creer include: caer leer oír poseer proveer roer Exceptions to this rule include: ･traer･atraer ･distraer

Verbs that end in -uir change in the same way, but the written accent over the letter "i" only occurs in the yo form. huir huí huiste huyó huimos huisteis huyeron

Other verbs like huir include: ･construir ･contribuir ･destruir ･fluir ･incluir ･influir

Verbs that end in -ucir are irregular and conjugated as follows: producir produje produjiste produjo produjimos produjisteis produjeron

Other verbs in this category include: ･aducir ･conducir ･coproducir ･deducir ･inducir ･introducir ･reducir ･traducir

The following verbs are irregular in the preterite and must be memorized: decir dije dijiste dijo dijimos dijisteis dijeron traer traje trajiste trajo trajimos trajisteis trajeron ver vi viste vio vimos visteis vieron

These four verbs are also irregular; you must memorize them: ser ir fui fui fuiste fuiste fue fue fuimos fuimos fuisteis fuisteis fueron fueron

dar hacer di hice diste hiciste dio hizo dimos hicimos disteis hicisteis dieron hicieron

To review some of the rules for using the preterite: The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events. The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times. The preterite is used for actions that occurred during a specific period of time. The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events. The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action.