1. The Preterite/El Pretérito
Avancemos 2 – Unidad 1 Lección 2

2. El Pretérito
The preterite tense in Spanish is used to tell what happened at a particular moment in the past. It is one of two past tenses that you will learn this year.
It is used for actions that are completed and done. (Boom actions).
Examples:
He wrote a postcard.
She rode the horse.
They visited the museum.

3. El Pretérito
Like present tense verbs, you form the preterite tense of regular verbs by crossing out the AR/ER/ or IR ending and adding a new ending to the stem.
The endings are pretty easy to remember for regular verbs (there is a song – YAY!!!)
We are going to begin by learning the regular “AR” verb endings.

4. El Pretérito Yo visité - I visited Nosotros visitamos – we visited
Regular – AR preterite endings
Verb – visitar (to visit)
Cross off ar – stem = visit
Yo visité - I visited
Nosotros visitamos –
we visited
Tú visitaste – you visited
Él/ella
Usted visitó – he/she/you
visited
Ellos/ellas
Ustedes visitaron -
They/you guys visited

5. El Pretérito
NOTE: The nosotros/nosotras ending in the preterite tense has the same ending as in the present tense. Look for context clues in the sentence to help you determine whether the verb is in the present or the past tense.
Example: El año pasado nosotros tomamos muchas fotos.
Clue words - El año pasado (last year). Last year tells you that this sentence is in the preterite (past) tense and not the present.
Example: Nosotros acampamos anoche en el parque.
Clue words – anoche (last night). Last night tells you that this sentence is in the preterite (past) tense and not the present.

6. The day before yesterday
El Pretérito
Some useful words and phrases you should know to use with the preterite tense. (****add these to your packet – you will need them)
El año pasado =
El mes pasado =
La semana pasada =
Ayer =
Anteayer =
Anoche =
Una vez =
De repente =
Ya =
Last year
Last month
Last week
Yesterday
The day before yesterday
Last night
One time
Suddenly
already

7. El Pretérito – Práctica 1) Conjugate the following verbs in the preterite tense. 2) Then, translate the sentence into English.
Ellas _______ (pescar) ayer.
Yo ________ (visitar) el museo anteayer.
Usted ______ (montar) a caballo el mes pasado.
La semana pasada mis amigos y yo ______ (acampar).
pescaron/They fished yesterday.
visité/I visited the museum the day before yesterday.
montó/You (formal) rode a horse last month.
acampamos/Last week my friends and I camped.

8. El Pretérito – Los verbos regulares “er” & “ir”
The preterite endings for regular “er” and “ir” verbs are different from the preterite endings for “ar” verbs. 
However, the good news is that regular “er” and regular “ir” verbs have THE SAME preterite endings!! 
So, once you have memorized the “er” endings, you will also know the “ir” endings 
More good news!! There is also A SONG to help you remember the “ar”/”er”/”ir” preterite endings!!!! :D

9. El Pretèrito
As taught earlier, the preterite tense in Spanish is used to tell what happened at a particular moment in the past.
Like the present tense verbs, you form the preterit tense of regular verbs by crossing out (er/ir) and adding on a new ending.
ER/IR in the preterit have the SAME endings

10. ER/IR Endings… Now let’s look at the ER/IR verb endings (Both have the same preterite endings –YAY!!!!)
Yo - í Tú - iste Èl Ella - ió Usted
Nosotros - imos Ellos Ellas - ieron Ustedes

11. BEBER – to drink Yo bebí Tú bebiste Él Ella bebió Usted
I drank
Tú bebiste
You (friendly) drank Él
Ella bebió
Usted
He/she/ you (formal) drank
Nosotros/as bebimos
We drank
Ellos
Ellas bebieron
Ustedes
They/you guys drank

12. Práctica del Paquete La familia _____ (abrir) sus regalos ayer.
Yo _______(dormir) tarde esta mañana.
Tú ________ (beber) la leche anteayer.
La semana pasada mis amigos y yo _____ (perder)las fotos.
1. La familia abrió sus regalos ayer. The family opened their gifts yesterday.
2. Yo dormí tarde esta mañana. I slept late this morning.
3. Tú bebiste la leche anteayer. You drank the milk the day before yesterday.
4. La semana pasada mis amigos y yo perdimos las fotos. Last week my friends and I lost the pictures.

13. Pronunciación de los vocales
Before learning the song to memorize regular preterite endings, it is important to learn the sounds of the vowels in Spanish.
They are somewhat confusing in the song until you learn how they sound in Spanish.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN THESE VOWEL SOUNDS!!!

14. Sound it makes in Spanish
Los Vocales - They are the same vowels in Spanish and English. (a.e.i.o.u)
Vowels
Sound it makes in Spanish -a -e -I -o -u
Pronounced “aaaah” as in apple
Pronounced “eh” as in tres
Pronounced “eee” as in tree
Pronounced “oh” like the English “oh”
Pronounced “oooo” as in tú.

15. Remember…Once you have memorized “The Preterite Song” you will know all the regular AR/ER/IR preterite endings as well as knowing where the accents go…(Need to know to communicate and get good grades. )
La Canción del Pretérito é acento aste ó acento amos aron í acento iste ió acento imos ieron Yankee Doodle went to town learning all his verbos. When he went to Mendoza’s class he showed her his cuaderno.