El preterito The preterite (past tense)

What is it? The preterite tense is the most useful tense for talking about things that happened in the past. It is used to describe a single completed action in the past, i.e. ’I did’, ‘I went’, ‘I visited’ etc, rather than ‘I have done’ ‘I have been’, ‘I have visited’.

How do you form it? You form it by removing the ar, er or ir ending from the infinitive, and adding on the preterite endings: (Note that the er and ir ending verbs have the same endings) ar verbser verbsir verbs Hablar – to speak Comer – to eatVivir – to live IHablé = I spokeComí = I ateViví = I lived youhablastecomisteviviste he/ she/it hablócomióvivió wehablamoscomimosvivimos youhablasteiscomisteisvivisteis theyhablaroncomieronvivieron

Have a go at forming some of these: 1.I drank a beer = 2.He ate a Spanish omelette = 3.They went out = 4.We watched a film = 5.They played football = 6.You (singular) read a book = 7.You (plural) listened =

Irregular verbs in the preterite Unfortunately, some of the most frequently used verbs in Spanish are irregular in the preterite tense and so these endings do not apply. The most vital irregular verbs that we use a lot are formed as follows: Ser - to be Ir - to go Estar – to beHacer – to do/ make Ifuiestuvehice youfuisteestuvistehiciste he/she/itfueestuvohizo wefuimosestuvimoshicimos youfuisteisestuvisteishicisteis theyfueronestuvieronhicieron

Other common irregular verbs include: Infinitive Preterite dar (to give) decir (to say) poder (to be able) poner (to put) querer (to want) tener (to have) traer (to bring) venir (to come) di dije pude puse quise tuve traje vine ================ I gave I said I could I put I wanted I had I brought I came

Visité mi abuela= Hizo sus deberes = Comimos helado = Vivieron en francia= Fuiste a Londres = Ví la televisión= Traduce al inglés:

Las vacaciones ¿Cuándo fuiste de vacaciones? ¿Adónde fuiste? ¿Con quién fuiste? ¿Para cuánto tiempo fuiste? ¿Cómo viajaste? ¿ Dónde te ajojaste? When did you go on holiday? Where did you go? Who did you go with? How long did you go for? How did you travel? Where did you stay?