1. Preterite Tense

2. Preterite Tense Preterite is one of two indicative past tenses
Conjugation method is same as present tense
Identify type of infinitive (-AR, -ER, -IR)
Drop the last two letters from infinitive
Add the endings that correspond to the subject AR
ER / IR é
amos í
imos
aste
asteis
iste
isteis ó
aron ió
ieron

3. Preterite Tense Preterite is one of two indicative past tenses
Conjugation method is same as present tense
Identify type of infinitive (-AR, -ER, -IR)
Drop the last two letters from infinitive
Add the endings that correspond to the subject AR
HABLAR é
amos
hablé
hablamos
aste
asteis
hablaste
hablasteis ó
aron
habló
hablaron

4. Preterite Tense Preterite is one of two indicative past tenses
Conjugation method is same as present tense
Identify type of infinitive (-AR, -ER, -IR)
Drop the last two letters from infinitive
Add the endings that correspond to the subject
ER/IR
COMER í
imos
comí
comimos
iste
isteis
comiste
comisteis ió
ieron
comió
comieron

5. Preterite Tense - Spelling Changes
The preterite does not stem change like the present
The preterite does have several spelling changes
Some ER/IR verbs follow “Old McDonald” in which any sequence of e-i-e-i-o will change the i to y
CREER
creí
creímos
creíste
creísteis
creyó
creyeron
LEER
leí
leímos
leíste
leísteis
leyó
leyeron

6. Preterite Tense - Spelling Changes
The preterite does not stem change like the present
The preterite does have several spelling changes
IR verbs with a present tense stem change will undergo a half-change in the third person
PEDIR
pedí
pedimos
pediste
pedisteis
pidió
pidieron
DORMIR
dormí
dormimos
dormiste
dormisteis
durmió
durmieron

7. Preterite Tense - Spelling Changes
The preterite does not stem change like the present
The preterite does have several spelling changes
Some AR verbs have a spelling change in the yo form
-car infinitives need to preserve the hard /k/ sound
buscar /k/ like cargo
buscé /s/ like cerveza
busqué /k/ like queso
BUSCAR
busqué
buscamos
buscaste
buscó
buscaron

8. Preterite Tense - Spelling Changes
The preterite does not stem change like the present
The preterite does have several spelling changes
Some AR verbs have a spelling change in the yo form
-gar infinitives need to preserve the hard /g/ sound
pagar /g/ like garaje
pagé /x/ like gente
pagué /g/ like guerra
PAGAR
pagué
pagamos
pagaste
pagó
pagaron

9. Preterite Tense - Spelling Changes
The preterite does not stem change like the present
The preterite does have several spelling changes
Some AR verbs have a spelling change in the yo form
-zar infinitives need to preserve a unique /s/ sound
empezar /s/ like zarpar
empezé /ś/ (archaic)
empecé /s/ like centavo
EMPEZAR
empecé
empezamos
empezaste
empezó
empezaron

10. Preterite Tense - Irregular
There are eight or so irregulars whose endings can usually be distilled from the regular endings AR
REGULAR
ER / IR é
amos í
imos
aste
iste ó
aron ió
ieron
IRREGULAR e
imos
iste o
ieron

11. Preterite Tense - Irregular
There are eight or so irregulars whose endings can usually be distilled from the regular endings
These irregular preterites also have different stems:
IRREGULAR PRETERITE
hacer
hic-
tener
tuv-
dar d-
poder
pud-
estar
estuv-
ver v-
poner
pus-
saber
sup- e
imos i
querer
quis-
iste
venir
vin- o
ieron io
decir
dij-
traer
traj-

12. Preterite Tense - Irregular
There are eight or so irregulars whose endings can usually be distilled from the regular endings
These irregular preterites also have different stems
For example:
HACER
hice
hicimos
hiciste
hizo
hicieron
DAR di
dimos
diste
dio
dieron
Note that hacer changes from c to z in the 3rd person to preserve its sound. Other verbs do not have to do this.

13. Preterite Tense - Irregular
There are eight or so irregulars whose endings can usually be distilled from the regular endings
These irregular preterites also have different stems
For example (note these in particular):
(ESTAR) & TENER
(es)tuve
(es)tuvimos
(es)tuviste
(es)tuvo
(es)tuvieron
SER & IR (a)
fui
fuimos
fuiste
fue
fueron