When we want to talk about something that happened in the past, we must use the Past Tense (I worked, I was working, I used to work, etc.). As in English, in Spanish there are several past tenses that indicate that an action took place in the past. Each tense has its own set of endings and its own rules that tell us when and how to use it. In this post we are only concerned with one of the past tenses in Spanish: the preterite (pretérito indefinido).
Generally, the preterite tense allows you to refer to specific past actions performed. For example:
– At a fixed point in time
You bought a shirt yesterday.
I wrote a letter last night.
– A specific number of times
I read the book five times.
She called me twice.
– During an enclosed amount of time
She worked for five hours last night.
He lived there for two years. (But not now)
It is important to remember that while an obvious feature of the preterite tense is how it quantifies action, we do not always state the quantity of our actions, but the quantity is generally implied.
You sold your home, why?
We ate pizza.
First, The regular Verbs in the Preterite
The form regular verbs in the preterite follow the next patterns:
Verbs ending in –AR (caminar, cantar, estudiar…) follow this pattern:
- Is - amos
- Those - aron
– ó -aron
Walk: to walk
I walked (I Walked)
you walked (You Walked)
he / she walked (he / she waked)
we walk (We walked)
you walked (you all Walked)
they walked (they Walked)
Verbs ending in –ER (comer, correr, …) and verbs ending –IR (vivir, escribir…) follow this pattern:
- I - let
- Iste - ieron
- Ion -ieron
Comer: to eat
I ate (I ate)
you ate (you ate)
he / she ate (he / she ate)
we ate (we ate)
you eat (you ate)
they ate (they ate)
Write: to write
I wrote (I wrote)
you wrote (you wrote)
he / she wrote (he / she wrote)
we write (we wrote)
you wrote (you wrote)
they wrote (they wrote)
Before working with the preterite, it is important to be familiar with the more common words and phrases that indicate past tense:
Ayer yesterday
last week last week
Last night last night
The month (year) passed last month (year)
This morning This Morning
A year ago, a week ... one year ago, one week
This afternoon This Afternoon
Yesterday morning / afternoon yesterday morning / afternoon
Practice this vocabulary with flashcards here.
Get a list of more common regular verbs in preterite and practice the preterite here.
Past Tense: the Preterite Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again Start Congratulations - you have completed Past Tense: the Preterite. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1 Yo no ( descansar) ____________ mucho ayer. A descansé B descansó C descansaste Question 2 ¿ Ustedes (cocinar) __________ anoche? A Cocinaron B cocinaste C cocino Question 3 Delfina ( escuchar ) __________ la noticia en la radio esta mañana. A escuchas B escuché C Escuchó Question 4 Cuando la nena ( ver )______________ el regalo, ( saltar ) __________ de alegría. A vio, saltó B viste, saltó C vio, salté Question 5 ¿Quién ( hablar ) _______________ con Luisa ayer? A Hablé B Habló C Hablaste Question 6 Anoche, Juan y yo ( comer)_________ Chicken fingers. And you? We eat ate A B C ate Question 7 I do not (breakfast) _________ this morning. I did not have time. A breakfast eat breakfast B C Question 8 had breakfast My family and I (live) _________ in Peru for four months. You lived live A B C Question 9 Lorena They lived not (send) ________ the text message last night. Send A B C You sent Send Question 10 All (talk) ____________ of the problem, yesterday at the meeting. We talk C B A You talked talked Question 11 What (you buy) __________ for your parents? Buy we Bought A B C Question 12 You bought last year not (traveling) __________ lot, but this year will itself travel everywhere I travel A B C traveled Traveled Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items You have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results There are 12 questions to complete. List ← → Return Shaded items are complete. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 End Return You have completed questions question Your score is CorrectWrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Hint Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All done Need more practice! Keep trying! Not bad! Good work! Perfect!
Next post, the irregular verbs in the preterite.
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