Talk About Your Weekend in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to talk about your weekend in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about travel

• use the preterite to describe past actions

• ask questions about actions in the past

Vocabulary

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

Adverb

Spanish	English
ayer	yesterday

examples
Nos cortamos el pelo ayer. We got our hair cut yesterday.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el ajedrez	chess
los bolos	bowling
las cartas	cards

examples
¿Jugaron al ajedrez? Did you play chess?
Jugamos a las cartas. We played cards.
Jugué a los bolos. I went bowling.

In English, you go bowling. However, in Spanish you say jugar bolos.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el viernes pasado	last Friday
el sábado pasado	last Saturday
el domingo pasado	last Sunday
el fin de semana pasado	last weekend

examples
El domingo pasado estuve ocupado. Last Sunday I was busy.
El sábado pasado tuve visita de mi amiga. Last Saturday I received a visit from my friend.
El viernes pasado no di clase. Last Friday I didn't give a lesson.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Aburrirse

Aburrirse(to get bored) is a pronominal -ir verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me aburrí	I got bored
tú	te aburriste	you got bored	informal singular you
vos	te aburriste	you got bored	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se aburrió	he, she got bored
usted	se aburrió	you got bored	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos aburrimos	we got bored
vosotros, vosotras	os aburristeis	you got bored	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se aburrieron	they got bored
ustedes	se aburrieron	you got bored	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Conocer

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

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

Personal A

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

examples
Conocimos a mi prima. We met my cousin.
¿Conociste a tu nuevo sobrino? Did you meet your new nephew?

When using conocer to mean to get to know (a city, etc.), we do not use the personal a. For example:

examples
Conocimos una ciudad nueva. We got to know a new city.

Dar

Dar(to give) is an irregular verb in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	di	I gave
tú	diste	you gave	informal singular you
vos	diste	you gave	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	dio	he, she gave
usted	dio	you gave	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	dimos	we gave
vosotros, vosotras	disteis	you gave	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	dieron	they gave
ustedes	dieron	you gave	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Divertirse

Divertirse(to have fun) is a stem-changing reflexive verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," dive, changes to divi but only in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me divertí	I had fun
tú	te divertiste	you had fun	informal singular you
vos	te divertiste	you had fun	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se divirtió	he, she had fun
usted	se divirtió	you had fun	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos divertimos	we had fun
vosotros, vosotras	os divertisteis	you had fun	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se divirtieron	they had fun
ustedes	se divirtieron	you had fun	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Dormir

Domir(to sleep) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," do, changes to du but only in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	dormí	I slept
tú	dormiste	you slept	informal singular you
vos	dormiste	you slept	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	durmió	he, she slept
usted	durmió	you slept	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	dormimos	we slept
vosotros, vosotras	dormisteis	you slept	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	durmieron	they slept
ustedes	durmieron	you slept	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Escribir

Escribir(to write) is an -ir verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	escribí	I wrote
tú	escribiste	you wrote	informal singular you
vos	escribiste	you wrote	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	escribió	he, she wrote
usted	escribió	you wrote	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	escribimos	we wrote
vosotros, vosotras	escribisteis	you wrote	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	escribieron	they wrote
ustedes	escribieron	you wrote	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 was	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)

Jugar

Jugar(to play) is an -ar verb with a spelling change in the preterite. In the yo form of the verb, a u is placed just before the é.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	jugué	I played
tú	jugaste	you played	informal singular you
vos	jugaste	you played	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	jugó	he, she played
usted	jugó	you played	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	jugamos	we played
vosotros, vosotras	jugasteis	you played	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	jugaron	they played
ustedes	jugaron	you played	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Leer

Leer(to read) is a stem-changing verb in the preterite. That means that its "stem," lee, changes to leí in the tú, vos, nosotros and vosotros forms. In the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms, the stem lee changes to ley.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	leí	I read
tú	leíste	you read	informal singular you
vos	leíste	you read	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	leyó	he, she read
usted	leyó	you read	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	leímos	we read
vosotros, vosotras	leísteis	you read	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	leyeron	they read
ustedes	leyeron	you read	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Limpiar

Limpiar(to clean) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	limpié	I cleaned
tú	limpiaste	you cleaned	informal singular you
vos	limpiaste	you cleaned	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	limpió	he, she cleaned
usted	limpió	you cleaned	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	limpiamos	we cleaned
vosotros, vosotras	limpiasteis	you cleaned	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	limpiaron	they cleaned
ustedes	limpiaron	you cleaned	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Manejar

Manejar(to drive) is an -ar verb that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	manejé	I drove
tú	manejaste	you drove	informal singular you
vos	manejaste	you drove	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	manejó	he, she drove
usted	manejó	you drove	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	manejamos	we drove
vosotros, vosotras	manejasteis	you drove	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	manejaron	they drove
ustedes	manejaron	you drove	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

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.

Verb Phrase

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!

Cortarse el pelo

Cortarse el pelo(to get a haircut) is a pronominal -ar verb phrase that is regular in the preterite.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me corté el pelo	I cut my hair
tú	te cortaste el pelo	you cut your hair	informal singular you
vos	te cortaste el pelo	you cut your hair	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se cortó el pelo	he, she cut his, her hair
usted	se cortó el pelo	you cut your hair	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos cortamos el pelo	we cut our hair
vosotros, vosotras	os cortasteis el pelo	you cut your hair	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se cortaron el pelo	they cut their hair
ustedes	se cortaron el pelo	you cut your hair	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

Note that some verbs, like ir, ser, and ver, are completely irregular in the preterite!

When Do We Use the Preterite?

We use the preterite to describe actions started and completed at a point in the past. Some common words that signal that we need to use the preterite are el fin de semana pasado (last weekend) ayer (yesterday), or the construction el + day of the week + pasado (last day of the week).

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Laura:

¡Buenos días, Pedro! El fin de semana pasado manejé al campo.

Good morning, Pedro! Last weekend I drove to the countryside.

Pedro:

¿Dónde fuiste? ¿Manejaste muchas horas?

Where did you go? Did you drive for many hours?

Laura:

Fuimos a Burgo de Osma, una ciudad en España. Manejé dos horas y media.

We went to Burgo de Osma, a city in Spain. I drove for two and a half hours.

Pedro:

¿Dormiste en el campo?

Did you sleep in the countryside?

Laura:

No, dormimos en un hotel. Hay un hotel allí que me gusta mucho.

No, we slept in a hotel. There’s a hotel there that I like a lot.

Pedro:

¿Leíste mucho? No hay mucho que hacer en el campo, ¿no?

Did you read much? There’s not much to do in the countryside, is there?

Want to learn more about how to talk about your weekend in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Preterite

• Fly Away

• Plan a Trip to a Spanish-Speaking Country