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

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

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

6. -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

7. ejemplo:
hablar
hablé hablamos
hablaste hablasteis
habló hablaron

8. 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

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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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.”

19. 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.

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

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

22. -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.

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

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

25. 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

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

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

28. 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."

29. ･creer
creí
creíste
creyó
creímos
creísteis
creyeron

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

31. 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

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

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

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

35. 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

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

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

38. 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.