Overview

The preterit tense (el pretérito) is one of several past tenses in Spanish and it is used to describe actions completed at one point in the past or that lasted a specific amount of time in the past and are now completed. The preterit is not used to describe habitual or continuous actions in the past with no specific ending or beginning. The imperfect tense is used for these instances. If the habitual action does have a specific beginning and end, the preterit can be used.

Quick links:

• Uses
• Regular Conjugations
• Irregular Conjugations
• Spelling Changes
• Stem Changes
• Meaning Changes
• Exercises

Uses

In General,

The Preterit is used to describe completed actions in the past at specific points in time.

1. To Indicate Single Events Took Place in the Past

These actions began and ended in the past. They are usually verbs that communicate an instant change in the action.

• Compré un coche nuevo. (I bought a new car.)
• Ben y Cristina se casaron. (Ben and Cristina got married.)
• Roberto nació. (Roberto was born.)

Verbs that are Preterit by Nature

2. To Indicate an Action that Happened at or for a Specific Amount of Time

These actions are completed at a definite moment in the past. They are easy to spot since they usually have a time frame in the sentence.

• Regresé anoche a la medianoche. (I returned last night at midnight.)
• Vivió en Perú desde hace tres meses. (He lived in Peru for three months.)
• Leíste este libro cinco veces. (You read this book 5 times.)

Useful Phrases that Indicate Specific Moments in the Past

3. To Narrate Individual Events

This is common in relating a story line where there are multiple actions presented.

• Me levanté, me vestí, y salí para la fiesta. (I got up, got dressed, and left for the party.)
• Tú entraste, bebiste un vaso de agua, y comiste una hamburguesa. (You came in, drank a glass of water, and ate a hamburger.)

4. To Indicate the Beginning or End of an Action in the Past

• Empezó a nevar. (It began to snow.)
• La película terminó con una sorpresa. (The movie ended with a surprise.)

Regular Preterit

There are only two sets of endings for regular preterit verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. Simply remove the infinitive ending and add the correct preterit ending depending on who the subject of the action is.

Preterit Verb Endings

Watch those Tildes!

The 1st and 3rd person singular have tildes (written accents) to differentiate them from present tense conjugations.

• Mandó una carta. (He/She sent a letter.)
• Mando una carta. (I send a letter.)

Ambiguous Endings Need Clarification

The 1st person plural endings for -ar and -ir verbs are the same for preterit and present tenses. The tense must be deduced from the given context.

• Siempre cocinamos paella los domingos. (We always cook paella on Sundays.)
• Ayer cocinamos paella para mi familia. (Yesterday, we cooked paella for my family.)

Irregular Preterit

There are really only three "really irregular" verbs in the preterit tense. These are irregular in both their stems and their endings.

Irregular Conjugations

Twins in the Preterit

Ser and ir share the exact same forms in the preterit.

There are several "somewhat irregular" verbs in the preterit tense. These are irregular in their stems, and follow the conjugation endings for -er and -ir verbs without tildes (even if it is an -ar verb). They are grouped together according to the following stem changes:

UV (andar, estar, tener)

U (caber, haber, poder, poner, saber)

I (hacer, querer, venir)

Hacer Has to be Different

• In the 3rd person singular for hacer, the c changes to a z to maintain pronunciation.

J (conducir, decir, traducir, traer)

3rd Person Plural Change

The 3rd person singular of the J group is -eron and not -ieron.

Spelling Changes

To preserve the consonant sounds in the infinitives, several verbs change the spelling in the stem. Endings are regular.

-car, -gar, and -zar verbs

To maintain the /k/, /g/, and /s/ sounds in the first person singular, the [c], [g], and [z] change to [qu], [gu], and [c] respectively. All other persons and all endings are regular.

Conjugation Examples

Some Common -car, -gar, and -z Verbs

-caer, -eer, -oer, -oír, and uir verbs

To prevent the creation of a triphthong, the i changes to a y in the 3rd person singular and plural of these verbs.

Conjugation Examples

Some Common -caer, -eer, -oer, -oír, and -uír Verbs

Stem Changes

Stem-changing -ir verbs (e->ie, e->i, and o->u) in the present tense keep the e or o of the infinitive in preterit conjugations except for 3rd person singular and plural where they change:e->i and o->u in the 3rd person

Conjugation Examples

Other stem-changing verbs can be found in the stem-changing verbs reference.

Verbs that Change Meaning in the Preterit

Due to a change in when an action happens, some verbs' English meaning changes from the present tense to the preterit.

• Supe la verdad. (I found out the truth.)
• Tuvo una carta. (He received a letter.)

Compare Present and Preterit

Exercises

1) Write the preterit form for each verb in parenthesis to complete each sentence.

Example: ¿Qué (hacer) tú anoche? -> hiciste

1. Anoche, yo (salir) de casa a las once.
2. Esta mañana, ellos (leer) los periódicos.
3. El otro día, ellos (ir) al concierto de Madonna.
4. Mi hermana (nacer) el 8 de junio.
5. Ana María (dormir) 10 horas anoche.
6. Yo (huir) de la conferencia aburrida.
7. Mis abuelos (construir) su casa hace 70 años.
8. Vosotros me (dar) el mejor regalo.
9. ¡Ustedes (andar) por mi jardín y (destruir) mis flores!
10. El año pasado, Eva (hacer) un pastel chocolate.

Answers

1. salí
2. leyeron
3. fueron
4. nació
5. durmió
6. huí
7. construyeron
8. disteis
9. anduvieron, destruyeron
10. hizo