1. The Preterite (Past) Tense
How do we form it?

2. First of all let’s look at verbs that end in -ar:
visitar
comprar
preguntar
escuchar
cerrar
hablar
These are all shown in the infinitive

3. Then take off the “ar” and add the appropriate endings:
-é for “I”
-aste for “you” sing.
-ó for “he/she/it
-amos for “we”
-asteis for “you” plural
-aron for “they”
visit-
compr-
pregunt-
escuch-
cerr-
habl-

4. For example:
I visited
visitar
visit + é =
visité

5. And then … ¿habl + aron?= ¿hablaron? you bought He/She asked
compr + aste = compraste
He/She asked
pregunt + ó = preguntó
escuch + amos = escuchamos
We listened
no cerr + asteis = no cerrasteis
You (all) didn’t close
¿habl + aron?= ¿hablaron?
Did they speak?

6. Now let’s try and work some out! (Here’s a reminder of the endings)
-é for “I”
-aste for “you” sing.
-ó for “he/she/it
-amos for “we”
-asteis for “you” plural
-aron for “they”
contestar
jugar
tomar
llevar
nevar
montar
cocinar

7. Now let’s look at verbs that end in –er and -ir:
beber
entender
llover
comer
vivir
abrir
These are all shown in the infinitive

8. Then we take off the “er/ir” and add the appropriate endings:
-í for “I”
-iste for “you” sing.
-ió for “he/she/it
-imos for “we”
-isteis for “you” plural
-ieron for “they”
beb-
entend-
llov-
com-
viv-
abr-

9. For example:
I drank
beber
beb + í =
bebí

10. And then … ¿abr + ieron?= ¿abrieron? It rained We ate You understood
entend + iste = entendiste
You understood
It rained
llov + ió = llovió
com + imos = comimos
We ate
no viv + isteis = no vivisteis
You (all) didn’t live
¿abr + ieron?= ¿abrieron?
Did they open?

11. Now let’s try and work some out! (Here’s a reminder of the endings)
-í for “I”
-iste for “you” sing.
-ió for “he/she/it
-imos for “we”
-isteis for “you” plural
-ieron for “they”
asistir
coincidir
volver
barrer
oler
doler
meter

12. However, most common -er/-ir verbs have irregular stems and have to be learnt by heart!
hacer (to do/make) :
hice = I did/made
hiciste = you did/made
hizo = he/she/it did
hicimos = we did/made
hicisteis = you (all) did
hicieron = they did/made
Ir (to go) :
fui = I went
fuiste = you went
fue = he/she/it went
fuimos = we went
fuisteis = you (all) went
fueron = they went

13. tener (to have) : ver (to see/watch) : tuve = I had tuviste = you had
tuvo = he/she/it had
tuvimos = we had
tuvisteis = you (all) had
tuvieron = they had
ver (to see/watch) :
vi = I saw/watched
viste = you saw/watched
vio = he/she/it saw
vimos = we saw/watched
visteis = you (all) saw
vieron = they saw/watched

14. ser (to be) : estar (to be) : fui = I was fuiste = you were
fue = he/she/it was
fuimos = we were
fuisteis = you (all) were
fueron = they were
estar (to be) :
estuve = I was
estuviste = you were
estuvo = he/she/it was
estuvimos = we were
estuvisteis = you (all) were
estuvieron = they were