1. How do I talk about a specific past action or event?
La Pregunta ? ?
How do I talk about a specific past action or event?

2. Talking about specific past actions or events En Español/
El Preterito
(The Preterite)
Talking about specific past actions or events
En Español

3. Uses of the Preterite “Tell What Happened” Specific past event/action
Physical action
Beginning/End of an event/action
An interrupting action
He ran.
I jumped.
You sang.
We laughed.

4. Conjugations of the Preterite
Verbs that end in…
-ar
-er/-ir -é
-amos -í
-imos
-iste
-isteis
-aste
-asteis
-ió
-ieron -ó
-aron

5. Conjugate the verb HABLAR using your preterite endings.
Try it!
Conjugate the verb HABLAR using your preterite endings.
HABL AR --
HABL É
HABL
AMOS
HABL
ASTE
HABL
ASTEIS
HABL Ó
HABL
ARON

6. Conjugate the verb COMER using your preterite endings.
Now Try…
Conjugate the verb COMER using your preterite endings. --
COM ER
COM Í
COM
IMOS
COM
ISTE
COM
ISTEIS
COM IÓ
COM
IERON

7. Conjugate the verb VIVIR using your preterite endings.
And Finally..
Conjugate the verb VIVIR using your preterite endings. --
VIV IR
VIV Í
VIV
IMOS
VIV
ISTE
VIV
ISTEIS
VIV IÓ
VIV
IERON

8. Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
I sang in the choir.
He ate lunch in the cafeteria.
We wrote a letter to our friend.
You read the magazine in the park.
Raúl y Emilio watched the baseball game.
Canté en el coro.
Él comió el almuerzo en la cafetería.
Escribimos una carta a nuestra amiga.
Leíste la revista en el parque.
Raúl y Emilio miraron el juego de beisbol.

9. -Car -Gar -Zar car Sa Ju gar To car Empe zar zar Comen
Words that end in –car, -gar, or –zar have a spelling change in the preterit yo-form of the verb.
car Sa
Empe
zar Ju
gar
zar To
Comen
car

10. In the YO-Form of a –car/-gar/-zar verb,
a spelling change takes place before adding the regular –ar ending of the verb.
This is to preserve the sound that the letters make in the original verb before conjugation.

11. -Car -Gar -Zar
For example: X
Sacar 
Sacé
Sacar  c c Sa é qu
Saqué

12. -Car -Gar -Zar
For example:
Jugar 
Jugé X
Jugar  g g Ju é gu
Jugué

13. Empecé c X -Car -Gar -Zar Empezar  Empezé Empezar  z z Empe é
For example: X
Empezar 
Empezé
Empezar  z z
Empe é
Empecé c

14. -car: c  qu -gar: g  gu -zar: z  c -Car -Gar -Zar
Words that end in –car, -gar, or –zar have a spelling change in the preterit yo-form of the verb.
-car:
c  qu
-gar:
g  gu
-zar:
z  c

15. -é -Car -Gar -Zar Since they’re all –ar verbs,
Simply add your preterit –ar ending
after you’ve made the spelling change in the yo-form. -é

16. Now You Try! TOC AR -- TO QU É TOC AMOS TOC ASTE TOC ASTEIS TOC Ó TOC
Conjugate the verb TOCAR using your preterite endings.
Don’t forget your spell change in the yo-form!
TOC AR -- TO QU É
TOC
AMOS
TOC
ASTE
TOC
ASTEIS
TOC Ó
TOC
ARON

17. Now You Try! JUG AR -- JU GU É JUG AMOS JUG ASTE JUG ASTEIS JUG Ó JUG
Conjugate the verb JUGAR using your preterite endings.
Don’t forget your spell change in the yo-form!
JUG AR -- JU GU É
JUG
AMOS
JUG
ASTE
JUG
ASTEIS
JUG Ó
JUG
ARON

18. Now You Try! COMENZ AR -- COMEN C É COMENZ AMOS COMENZ ASTE COMENZ
Conjugate the verb COMENZAR using your preterite endings.
Don’t forget your spell change in the yo-form!
COMENZ AR --
COMEN C É
COMENZ
AMOS
COMENZ
ASTE
COMENZ
ASTEIS
COMENZ Ó
COMENZ
ARON

19. Irregular verbs in the preterit
dar
Ser
ver
¡NO ACCENTS ANYWHERE!
Irregular verbs in the preterit

20. Ir
dar
Ser
ver
These four verbs have irregular conjugations. Rather than chopping off the endings of these verbs and adding on new ones, learn the following conjugations of each verb.

21. Ir Ir
dar -
Ser
To Go
ver
fui
fuimos
fuiste
fuisteis
fue
fueron

22. Ir -
To Go
fui
fui
mos
fuiste
fuiste is
fue
fue
ron

23. Guess what?!

24. Ir ser - To Go be They’re the SAME! fui fuimos fuiste fuisteis fue
fueron

25. The conjugations of Ir and Ser are the SAME in the PRETERIT!!
That’s Right!
The conjugations of Ir and Ser are the SAME in the PRETERIT!!

26. SEr Ir - To Go be
fui
fuimos
fuiste
fuisteis
fue
fueron

27. Ir dar ver - Ser ver To See
The only irregular thing about Ver in the preterit is that it doesn’t have any accents.

28. ver -
To See
¡NO ACCENTS! vi
vimos
viste
visteis
vio
vieron

29. Dar and Ver
are very similar
in the preterit.

30. Da ve r - To Give To See d v i d v imos d v iste d v isteis d v io d v
ieron

31. Irregular verbs in the preterit
dar
Ser
ver
¡NO ACCENTS ANYWHERE!
Irregular verbs in the preterit

32. Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
I went to the art museum.
We saw many sculptures.
You gave the waiter a tip.
The girls went to a restaurant.

33. Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
I went to the art museum.
We saw many sculptures.
You gave the waiter a tip.
The girls went to a restaurant.
Fui al museo de arte.
Vimos muchas esculturas.
(Le)Diste una propina al mesero.
Las chicas fueron a un restaurante.

34. “Super Irregular” Verbs
Etapa 1.2
“Super Irregular”
Verbs

35. “Super Irregular” verbs
Andar –
To walk
To be
Estar –
To have
Tener –
To be able
Poder –
To put/place
Poner –
To know
Saber –
To come
Venir –
To want
Querer –
To do/make
Hacer –

36. “Super Irregular” Stems
Andar :
Anduv-
Estuv-
Estar :
Tuv-
Tener :
Pud-
Poder :
Pus-
Poner :
Sup-
Saber :
Vin-
Venir :
Quis-
Querer :
Hic-
Hacer : –

37. Conjugations of the Preterite
Verbs that end in…
-ar
-er/-ir -é
-amos -í
-imos
-iste
-isteis
-aste
-asteis
-ió
-ieron -ó
-aron

38. Super Irregular Endings
New endings
-er/-ir -e
-amos -í
-imos
-iste
-isteis
-aste
-asteis
-ió
-ieron -o
-aron

39. “Super Irregular” endings
-imos
-iste
-isteis -o
-ieron
NO ACCENTS
NO ACCENTS

40. “Super Irregular” CONJUGATIONS
STEM + ENDINGS
anduv-
estuv-
tuv-
pud-
pus-
sup-
vin-
quis-
hic- -e
-imos
-iste
-isteis -o
-ieron

41. Conjugate the verb ESTAR in the preterite in your notes.
Let’s Conjugate!
Conjugate the verb ESTAR in the preterite in your notes.
estuve
estuvimos
estuviste
estuvisteis
estuvo
estuvieron

42. Let’s Conjugate!
Conjugate the verb SABER in the preterite in your notes.
Check your conjugations with your partner.

43. Let’s Conjugate! supe supimos supiste supisteis supo supieron
How’d you do?
supe
supimos
supiste
supisteis
supo
supieron

44. Read and translate these sentences to English:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to English:
Marta anduvo por el parque.
¡Tu tuviste tres galletas!
Nosotros supimos la respuesta.
Yo quise mirar beisbol.
Ellos no pudieron ir al cine.

45. Read and translate these sentences to English:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to English:
Marta walked through the park.
You had three cookies!
We knew the answer.
I wanted to watch baseball.
They could not go to the movies.

46. Write these sentences in Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Write these sentences in Spanish:
They wanted to eat lunch.
I was in the office.
We set the table.
You came to my school.
Maria walked to Sara’s house.

47. Write these sentences in Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Write these sentences in Spanish:
Ellos quisieron comer el almuerzo.
Yo estuve en la oficina.
Nosotros pusimos la mesa.
Tu viniste a mi escuela.
Maria anduvo a la casa de Sara.

48. ¡Tarea!
Now that you know the 8 Super Irregular preterite verbs, your homework is:
Conjugate all 8 verbs in the preterite in your notes.

49. These verbs share similar endings to the Super Irregular Verbs
J-stem Preterit Verbs
There are a handful of verbs that when conjugated in the preterit, they take on the letter ‘j’.
These verbs share similar endings to the Super Irregular Verbs

50. J-stem Verbs Traer – To bring To tell Decir – To drive Conducir –
To produce
Producir –
To translate
Traducir –

51. J-stem Verb Stems Traer : traj- dij- Decir : conduj- Conducir :
produj-
Producir :
traduj-
Traducir :

52. “J-Stem” endings -e
-imos
-iste
-isteis -o
-ieron
NO ACCENTS X

53. “J-Stem” Preterit CONJUGATIONS
STEM + ENDINGS
traj-
dij-
conduj-
produj-
traduj- -e
-imos
-iste
-isteis -o
-eron

54. Conjugate the verb Traer in the preterit in your notes.
Try it!
Conjugate the verb Traer in the preterit in your notes.
traje
trajimos
trajiste
trajisteis
trajo
trajeron

55. Conjugate the Decir in the preterit in your notes.
Try it!
Conjugate the Decir in the preterit in your notes.
dije
dijimos
dijiste
dijisteis
dijo
dijeron

56. Read and translate these sentences to English:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to English:
Marta trajo su perro al parque.
¡¿Tu me dijiste una mentira?!
Nosotros condujimos a la escuela.
Yo traduje los letreros a inglés.
Ellos no produjeron la película.

57. ¡Traducimos! Marta brought her dog to the park. You told me a lie?!
We drove to school.
I translated the sign to English.
They did not produce the movie.

58. Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
¡Traducimos!
Read and translate these sentences to Spanish:
I drove to school in a blue car.
He told his mother the truth.
We produced the program in Spanish.
You brought me a present.
Raúl y Emilio translated the book in Spanish.

59. ¡Traducimos! Conduje a la escuela en un coche azul.
Él le dijo la verdad a su madre.
Produjimos el programa en español.
Tú me trajiste un regalo.
Raúl y Emilio tradujeron el libro en español.

60. Conjugate all 5 J-stem verbs into your notes.
Tarea
Conjugate all 5 J-stem verbs into your notes.
Traer
Decir
Conducir
Producir
Traducir

61. Stem-changing Preterit Verbs
E  I
O U

62. In the Present Tense where did we make stem-spelling changes?

63. That’s Right! In the “Boot”.

64. Present Day Soldiers Wear BOOTS on their feet.
In the past, the soldiers wore…

65. Similiarly, present tense stem changers take place in the boot
While past tense preterit verbs take the stem change in only the sandal of the shoe.

66. In the Past or PreteritTense stem-spelling changes occur in the “sandal” of the shoe.
E-> I / O-> U
E-> I / O-> U

67. Stem-Spell Change Verbs
To compete
Competir -
To sleep
Dormir –
To die
Morir –
To ask
Pedir –
To prefer
Preferir –
Repetir –
To repeat
To Serve
Servir –

68. Stem-Spell Change Verbs
e  i
Competir -
o  u
Dormir –
o  u
Morir –
e  i
Pedir –
e  i
Preferir –
Repetir –
e  i
e  i
Servir –

69. Conjugate the verb Repetir in the preterit in your notes.
Try it!
Conjugate the verb Repetir in the preterit in your notes.
repetí
repetimos
repetiste
repetisteis
repitió
repitieron

70. Conjugate the verb Dormir in the preterit in your notes.
Try it!
Conjugate the verb Dormir in the preterit in your notes.
dormí
dormimos
dormiste
dormisteis
durmió
durmieron

71. Stem-Spell Changes IY
To believe
Creer -
To read
Leer –
To hear
Oír –
iy

72. Conjugate the verb Leer in the preterit in your notes.
Try it!
Conjugate the verb Leer in the preterit in your notes.
leí
leimos
leiste
leisteis
leyó
leyeron