Share Your Life Story in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to share your life story in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use vocabulary related to important life events

• use the preterite to talk about life events

• talk about specific years in the past

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
bisiesto	leap (year)
fantástico	fantastic
inolvidable	unforgettable
natal	home
segundo	second
tercero	third
viajero	travel, travel-filled

examples
Ese año fue bisiesto. That was a leap year.
Esos años fueron fantásticos. Those years were fantastic.
Cinco años después, nos casamos en su ciudad natal. Five years later, we got married in her hometown.

Tercero or Tercer?

When it comes before nouns that are singular and masculine, tercero is shortened to tercer.

Adverb

Spanish	English
justo	just

examples
Justo después, empecé a trabajar en México. Just afterward, I started to work in Mexico.

Conjunction

Spanish	English
e	and
y	and

examples
Por eso hablo español e inglés. That's why I speak Spanish and English.
Entre el dos mil cuatro y el dos mil ocho. Between two thousand four and two thousand eight.

Y and E

When y comes before a word that begins with a i- or hi-, it changes to an e. However, y does not change to e before words that begin with hie-.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el accidente	accident
la decisión	decision
El Salvador	El Salvador
la maestría	master's
el mellizo	fraternal twin
la recuperación	recovery
Uruguay	Uruguay

examples
Mis padres tomaron la decisión. My parents made the decision.
Ese mismo año, empecé a estudiar mi maestría. That same year, I started to study my master's.
¿Fueron mellizos? Were they fraternal twins?

Pronunciation

You might be wondering why we’ve included names like Uruguay and El Salvador in this list of nouns. Take a minute to listen to how these terms are pronounced in Spanish. You’ll notice that they’re different!

examples
Pasé mis primeros años en Uruguay. I spent my first years in Uruguay.
Después, me mudé a El Salvador. Afterward, I moved to El Salvador.

Noun Phrase

Spanish	English
la mujer de mi vida	the love of my life

examples
Con veinticinco años, conocí a la mujer de mi vida. At the age of twenty-five, I met the love of my life.

If your partner identifies as male, you can say el hombre de mi vida. If you would like a gender-neutral term, you can use el amor de mi vida.

Numbers

Spanish	English
mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro	nineteen eighty-four
dos mil	two thousand
dos mil uno	two thousand one
dos mil tres	two thousand three
dos mil cuatro	two thousand four
dos mil ocho	two thousand eight
dos mil diez	two thousand ten
dos mil doce	two thousand twelve
dos mil dieciocho	two thousand eighteen
dos mil veinte	two thousand twenty
dos mil veintidós	two thousand twenty-two

examples
Nací en mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro. I was born in nineteen eighty-four.
En el dos mil uno, nos mudamos a Estados Unidos. In two thousand one, we moved to the United States.
En el año dos mil cuatro, empecé la universidad. In the year two thousand four, I started college.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Casarse

Casarse(to get married) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me casé	I got married
tú	te casaste	you got married	informal singular you
vos	te casaste	you got married	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se casó	he, she got married
usted	se casó	you got married	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos casamos	we got married
vosotros, vosotras	os casasteis	you got married	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se casaron	they got married
ustedes	se casaron	you got married	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Comprar

Comprar(to buy) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	compré	I bought
tú	compraste	you bought	informal singular you
vos	compraste	you bought	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	compró	he, she bought
usted	compró	you bought	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	compramos	we bought
vosotros, vosotras	comprasteis	you bought	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	compraron	they bought
ustedes	compraron	you bought	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

Con veinticinco años, conocí a la mujer de mi vida.

At the age of twenty-five, I met the love of my life.

Empezar

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

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	empecé	I started
tú	empezaste	you started	informal singular you
vos	empezaste	you started	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	empezó	he, she started
usted	empezó	you started	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	empezamos	we started
vosotros, vosotras	empezasteis	you started	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	empezaron	they started
ustedes	empezaron	you started	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Estar

Estar(to be) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," esta, changes to estuv in all forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	estuve	I was
tú	estuviste	you were	informal singular you
vos	estuviste	you were	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	estuvo	he, she was
usted	estuvo	you were	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	estuvimos	we were
vosotros, vosotras	estuvisteis	you were	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	estuvieron	they were
ustedes	estuvieron	you were	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Mudarse

Mudarse(to move) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me mudé	I moved
tú	te mudaste	you moved	informal singular you
vos	te mudaste	you moved	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se mudó	he, she moved
usted	se mudó	you moved	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos mudamos	we moved
vosotros, vosotras	os mudasteis	you moved	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se mudaron	they moved
ustedes	se mudaron	you moved	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Nacer

Nacer(to be born) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	nací	I was born
tú	naciste	you were born	informal singular you
vos	naciste	you were born	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	nació	he, she was born
usted	nació	you were born	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nacimos	we were born
vosotros, vosotras	nacisteis	you were born	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	nacieron	they were born
ustedes	nacieron	you were born	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Pasar

Pasar(to spend [time]) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	pasé	I spent
tú	pasaste	you spent	informal singular you
vos	pasaste	you spent	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	pasó	he, she spent
usted	pasó	you spent	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	pasamos	we spent
vosotros, vosotras	pasasteis	you spent	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	pasaron	they spent
ustedes	pasaron	you spent	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

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.

Tener

Tener(to have) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," te, changes to tuv in all forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tuve	I had
tú	tuviste	you had	informal singular you
vos	tuviste	you had	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tuvo	he, she had
usted	tuvo	you had	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tuvimos	we had
vosotros, vosotras	tuvisteis	you had	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tuvieron	they had
ustedes	tuvieron	you had	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Note that the yo and él, ella, usted forms of tener in the preterite do not have accent marks.

Tomar

Tomar(to take) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tomé	I took
tú	tomaste	you took	informal singular you
vos	tomaste	you took	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tomó	he, she took
usted	tomó	you took	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tomamos	we took
vosotros, vosotras	tomasteis	you took	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tomaron	they took
ustedes	tomaron	you took	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

In the phrase tomar una decisión(make a decision) we would translate tomar as make.

Trasladar

Trasladar(to transfer) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	trasladé	I transferred
tú	trasladaste	you transferred	informal singular you
vos	trasladaste	you transferred	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	trasladó	he, she transferred
usted	trasladó	you transferred	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	trasladamos	we transferred
vosotros, vosotras	trasladasteis	you transferred	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	trasladaron	they transferred
ustedes	trasladaron	you transferred	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Vivir

Vivir(to live) is an -ir verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	viví	I lived
tú	viviste	you lived	informal singular you
vos	viviste	you lived	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	vivió	he, she lived
usted	vivió	you lived	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	vivimos	we lived
vosotros, vosotras	vivisteis	you lived	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	vivieron	they lived
ustedes	vivieron	you lived	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Volver

Volver(to come back) is an -er verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	volví	I came back
tú	volviste	you came back	informal singular you
vos	volviste	you came back	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	volvió	he, she came back
usted	volvió	you came back	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	volvimos	we came back
vosotros, vosotras	volvisteis	you came back	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	volvieron	they came back
ustedes	volvieron	you came back	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

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 a few 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: