The pretérito is a tense that we use to talk about things that happened in the past at a very specific point in time and had a specific duration:

1. Specific moments in history:

• Christopher Columbus discovered américa in 1492

2. Specific actions in a story

• Last year I tried Chinese food for the first time

3. Actions that happened only once in the past

• Yesterday your sister went to the supermarket

4. Actions that had a specific ending in the past

• I lived in Colombia for 10 years

CUES: These words will help you identify the preterite:

• ayer
• el lunes pasado
• la semana pasada
• el mes pasado
• el año pasado
• en 1987
• de repente

 

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CONJUGATION PRETÉRITO

As usual, we take the 3 groups of verbs AR, ER, IR

AR Verbs

You drop the AR and add the corresponding endings. We are going to use the verb HABLAR as an example:

• Yo habl-é
• Tú habl-aste
• Él habl-ó
• Ella habl-ó
• Nosotros habl-amos
• Ustedes habl-aron
• Ellos habl-aron
• Ellas habl-aron

ER Verbs

Drop the ER and add the corresponding endings. We are going to use the verb COMER as an example:

• Yo com-í
• Tú com-iste
• Él com-ió
• Ella com-ió
• Nosotros com-imos
• Ustedes com-ieron
• Ellos com-ieron
• Ellas com-ieron

IR Verbs

Drop the IR and add the corresponding endings. We are going to use the verb VIVIR as an example:

• Yo viv-í
• Tú viv-iste
• Él viv-ió
• Ella viv-ío
• Nosotros viv-imos
• Ustedes viv-ieron
• Ellos viv-ieron
• Ellas viv-ieron

SUMMARY

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EXAMPLES PRETÉRITO

Ayer me levanté a las 8 de la mañana, comí unos sándwiches y tomé un jugo. Fui a la escuela y hablé con mis amigos. Por la tarde estudié en la biblioteca y corrí en el parque. Por la noche cené con mi familia y vi un poco de televisión.  A las 10 de la noche me acosté y me dormí.

(Yesterday I got up at 8 in the morning, I ate some sandwiches and I had a juice. I went to school and spoke with my friends. In the afternoon I studied in the library and ran in the park. At night I had dinner with my family and watched a bit of TV. At 10 o’clock I went to bed and fell asleep.)

NOTE: Notice how this story is describing specific actions that happened at a specific moment and had a specific ending.

NOTE2: Notice how the reflexive verbs follow the same rules in the past that in the present: Reflexive pronoun + verb conjugated (in pretérito)

 

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IRREGULAR VERBS IN PRETÉRITO

Notice that the verb SER and the verb IR are the same in the preterite.

Example:

• Ayer fui al supermercado (Yesterday I went to the supermarket)
• Yo fui buena estudiante en la escuela (I was a good student in school)
• ¿Fuiste a la fiesta de María? (Did you go to Maria’s party?)
• Tú fuiste el que me llamó anoche (You were the one who called me last night)

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Take a lesson about the PAST TENSE IN SPANISH

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PRACTICE PRETÉRITO

 

1. Ayer ellos (ayudar)….a ganar el partido
2. Ustedes (cambiar)…el lugar de la fiesta
3. Él (comprar)….un carro rojo el a
4. Nosotros (hablar) ….. con la maestra
5. El año pasado ella (aprender)…. mucho
6. El viernes yo (bailar) …. toda la noche
7.  Anoche tú (dormir) …. 8 horas
8. Ayer (yo/conocer) a tu hermana
9. Ella (nacer) en 1987
10. ¿En dónde (dormir/tú) anoche?

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Answers: ayudaron, cambiaron, compró, hablamos, aprendió, bailé, dormiste, conocí, nació, dormiste