See a Show in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to see a show in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about theater events

• use qué exclamations in conversations

• use the preterite to talk about completed events in the past

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

Spanish	English
el apagón	power outage
el argumento	plot
el diálogo	dialogue
el drama	drama
la emoción	emotion
el importe	amount
el musical	musical
la niñera	babysitter
el peinado	hairdo
el protagonista	protagonist
el vestuario	costumes

examples
Hubo un apagón. There was a power outage.
Nos gustó mucho el argumento. We really liked the plot.
¿Te gustó el diálogo? Did you like the dialogue?

Numbers

Spanish	English
trescientos	three hundred
doscientos	two hundred

examples
Pagué doscientos dólares por las entradas. I paid two hundred dollars for the tickets.
¡Ana tomó más de trescientas fotos! Ana took more than three hundred pictures!

Noun-Adjective Agreement

When a cardinal number is used as an adjective, it typically doesn't change to match the gender or number of the noun it modifies. Spoiler alert: There are exceptions to this rule.

Cienchanges to cientoin numbers above 100. If the cardinal number being used as an adjective is between 101 and 199, ciento does not change to match the noun. However, ciento must be in agreement with a feminine noun when the cardinal number is above 200 or greater. For example:

examples
¡Ana tomó más de trescientas fotos! Ana took more than three hundred pictures!

examples

¡Ana tomó más de trescientas fotos!

Ana took more than three hundred pictures!

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
los efectos especiales	special effects

examples
Nos fascinaron los efectos especiales. We loved the special effects.

Prepositional Phrase

Spanish	English
de vez en cuando	once in a while

examples
De vez en cuando, nos gusta ver musicales. Once in a while, we like to go see musicals.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Arreglarse

Arreglarse(to get dressed up) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me arreglé	I got dressed up
tú	te arreglaste	you got dressed up	informal singular you
vos	te arreglaste	you got dressed up	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se arregló	he, she got dressed up
usted	se arregló	you got dressed up	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos arreglamos	we got dressed up
vosotros, vosotras	os arreglasteis	you got dressed up	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se arreglaron	they got dressed up
ustedes	se arreglaron	you got dressed up	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Cenar

Cenar(to have dinner) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	cené	I had dinner
tú	cenaste	you had dinner	informal singular you
vos	cenaste	you had dinner	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	cenó	he, she had dinner
usted	cenó	you had dinner	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	cenamos	we had dinner
vosotros, vosotras	cenasteis	you had dinner	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	cenaron	they had dinner
ustedes	cenaron	you had dinner	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Conocer

Conocer( to meet) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	conocí	I met
tú	conociste	you met	informal singular you
vos	conociste	you met	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	conoció	he, she met
usted	conoció	you met	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	conocimos	we met
vosotros, vosotras	conocisteis	you met	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	conocieron	they met
ustedes	conocieron	you met	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

When using conocer to mean to meet, we use a little preposition called the personal a. For example:

examples
¿Conocieron a los actores? Did you meet the actors?

examples

¿Conocieron a los actores?

Did you meet the actors?

Costar

Costar(to cost) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.
Costar tends to be used in the third-person singular: costó or third-person plural costaron.

Dejar

Dejar(to leave) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	dejé	I left
tú	dejaste	you left	informal singular you
vos	dejaste	you left	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	dejó	he, she left
usted	dejó	you left	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	dejamos	we left
vosotros, vosotras	dejasteis	you left	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	dejaron	they left
ustedes	dejaron	you left	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Desvelarse

Desvelarse(to stay up late) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me desvelé	I stayed up late
tú	te desvelaste	you stayed up late	informal singular you
vos	te desvelaste	you stayed up late	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se desveló	he, she stayed up late
usted	se desveló	you stayed up late	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos desvelamos	we stayed up late
vosotros, vosotras	os desvelasteis	you stayed up late	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se desvelaron	they stayed up late
ustedes	se desvelaron	you stayed up late	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Encantar

Encantar(to love) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.
Note that when we use encantar to mean to love, it behaves like gustar.

With verbs like gustar, the subject of the sentence is the thing being liked, while the thing doing the liking is expressed via an indirect object.

This table refers to loving a singular thing. If the thing that you loved is plural, use encantaron.

Conjugation	Translation	Notes
me encantó	I loved
te encantó	you loved	informal singular you
te encantó	you loved	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
le encantó	he/she loved
le encantó	you loved	formal singular you
nos encantó	we loved
os encantó	you loved	informal plural you (in Spain)
les encantó	they loved
les encantó	you loved	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Encender

Encender(to turn on) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	encendí	I turned on
tú	encendiste	you turned on	informal singular you
vos	encendiste	you turned on	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	encendió	he, she turned on
usted	encendió	you turned on	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	encendimos	we turned on
vosotros, vosotras	encendisteis	you turned on	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	encendieron	they turned on
ustedes	encendieron	you turned on	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Fascinar

Fascinar(to love) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.
Note that when we use fascinar to mean to love, it behaves like gustar.

With verbs like gustar, the subject of the sentence is the thing being liked, while the thing doing the liking is expressed via an indirect object.

This table refers to loving a singular thing. If the thing you loved is plural, use fascinaron.

Conjugation	Translation	Notes
me fascinó	I loved
te fascinó	you loved	informal singular you
te fascinó	you loved	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
le fascinó	he/she loved
le fascinó	you loved	formal singular you
nos fascinó	we loved
os fascinó	you loved	informal plural you (in Spain)
les fascinó	they loved
les fascinó	you loved	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Fascinar can also mean to fascinate or to captivate!

Memorizar

Memorizar(to memorize) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	memoricé	I memorized
tú	memorizaste	you memorized	informal singular you
vos	memorizaste	you memorized	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	memorizó	he, she memorized
usted	memorizó	you memorized	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	memorizamos	we memorized
vosotros, vosotras	memorizasteis	you memorized	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	memorizaron	they memorized
ustedes	memorizaron	you memorized	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Pagar

Pagar(to pay) is an -ar verb with an irregular yo form in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	pagué	I paid
tú	pagaste	you paid	informal singular you
vos	pagaste	you paid	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	pagó	he, she paid
usted	pagó	you paid	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	pagamos	we paid
vosotros, vosotras	pagasteis	you paid	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	pagaron	they paid
ustedes	pagaron	you paid	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Posponerse

Posponerse(to postpone) is a pronominal -er verb that has a stem change in the preterite.

Posponerse tends to be used in the third-person singular or third-person plural:

• se pospuso (it was postponed)

• se pospusieron (they were postponed)

Ser

Ser(to be) is an irregular verb in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	fui	I was
tú	fuiste	you were	informal singular you
vos	fuiste	you were	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	fue	he, she was
usted	fue	you were	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	fuimos	we were
vosotros, vosotras	fuisteis	you were	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	fueron	they were
ustedes	fueron	you were	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

No, we didn’t make a mistake and yes, you’re seeing that right. Ser and ir are conjugated the same way in the preterite!

Note that none of the forms of the verb ser take an accent in the preterite.

The Preterite

Regular Spanish Preterite Forms

There are only two sets of endings for regular preterite verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. To conjugate a regular verb in the preterite tense, simply remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) and add the preterite ending that matches the subject. Check out the table of regular preterite endings below.

Subject	-ar Verbs	-er and -ir Verbs
yo	-é	-í
tú	-aste	-iste
él, ella, usted	-ó	-ió
nosotros	-amos	-imos
vosotros	-asteis	-isteis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-aron	-ieron

Irregular and Stem-Changing Verbs in the Preterite

Note that some verbs, like many of those we saw in this lesson, are irregular or stem-changing in the preterite! Learn more about irregular verbs, spelling changes, and stem-changing preterite verbs in this article.

When Do We Use the Preterite?

Specific Times in the Past

We use the preterite to describe actions completed at a point in the past, especially those that occurred on specific days or dates, at specific times, and during specific time periods. For example, we often use the preterite with the following phrases:

al cabo de + time

después de + noun

el + day of week + pasado

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
cuéntame más	tell me more
qué bonito es	it's so nice
qué envidia	I'm jealous
y qué pasó	and then what happened

Exclamatory Expressions

One of the easiest ways to convey a very strong feeling or opinion about something is to use an exclamatory word or expression. Many exclamatory words are very similar to interrogative words, but instead of asking a question, they state an idea or opinion.