¡El Préterito!

The Past Tense!

When to use the preterit tense?

• THE PRETERIT TENSE IS USED WHEN THE PERSON SPEAKING IS TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THEY HAVE DONE IN THE PAST. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU WANTED TO SAY, “I ATE LUNCH YESTERDAY” IN SPANISH, YOU WOULD SAY, “ YO COMIÓ ALMUERZO AYER.

¡Formula for the preterit tense!

• To formulate the preterit tense, you need only two things; a stem and the appropriate ending.

• Ex. 1: Yo form of escuchar: (drop the “ar” off the end and add the appropriate ending) escuché.

• Ex. 2: The 3rd person singular of Comer: (drop the “er” off the end and add the appropriate ending) comió.

• Ex. 3: The Nosotros form of dar: (look at the irregular verb charts and use the corresponding ending) dimos.

Ending for “ar” verbs in the preterit tense…

Pronoun Ending

Yo é

Tú aste

Él, Ella, Usted

ó

Nosotros amos

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

aron

Here are some example of “ar” verbs conjugated in the preterit tense…

• Ex. 1: Rajit compró las manzanas ayer.• This means: Rajit bought apples yesterday.

• Ex. 2: Russell y Rajit jugaron fútbol ayer.• This means: Russell and Rajit played soccer yesterday.

• Ex. 3: Nosotros escuchamos a la música ayer.• This means: We listened to music yesterday.

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Endings for “er” and “ir” verbs in the preterit tense…

Pronoun Ending

Yo Í

Tú Iste

Él, Ella, Usted Ió

Nosotros Imos

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes Ieron

Here are some exmaples of “er” and “ir” verbs conjugated in the preterit…

• Ex. 1: Yo comí el biftec ayer.• This means: I ate the steak yesterday.

• Ex. 2: Tú ecribiste una carta a su amigo en la semana pasada.• This means: You wrote a letter to your friend last week.

• Ex. 3: Ellas bebieron los refrescos ayer.• This means: They drank the refreshments yesterday.

Irregular Verbs in the preterit tense…

VERB Dar- gave Estar- was Tener- had Andar- walked

Ir/Ser- went

Yo Dí Estuve Tuve Anduve Fui

Tú Diste Estuviste Tuviste Anduviste Fuiste

Él, Ella, Usted

Dio Estuvo Tuvo Anduvo Fue

Nosotros Dimos Estuvimos Tuvimos Anduvimos Fuimos

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

Dieron Estuvieron Tuvieron Anduvieron Fueron

More Irregulars in the preterit tense…

Verb Decir- said Traer – brought

Poder- was able to

Poner- put/ placed

Saber- found out

Yo Dije Traje Pude Puse Supe

Tú Dijiste Trajiste Pudiste Pusiste Supiste

Él, Ella, Usted

Dijo Trajo Pudo Puso Supo

Nosotros Dijimos Trajimos Pudimos Pusimos Supimos

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

Dijieron Trajieron Pudieron Pusieron Supeiron

Even more irregulars in the preterit tense…

VERB Querer- wanted Hacer- did/made Venir- came

Yo Quise Hice Vine

Tú Quisiste Hiciste Viniste

Él, Ella, Usted

Quiso Hizo Vino

Nosotros Quisimos Hicimos Vinimos

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes

Qusieron Hicieron Vinieron

Here are some exmaples of some irregular verbs conjugated in the preterit tense…

• Ex. 1: Ellos fueron al parque ayer.• This means: They went to the park yesterday.

• Ex. 2: La chica dijo hola a mi ayer.• This means: The girl said hi to me yesterday

• Ex. 3: Yo anduve a la escuale ayer.• This means: I walked to school yesterday.

• Ex. 4: ¿Tú supiste el problema con el duche?• This means: Did you find out what was wrong with the shower?

Spelling Change Irregulars..

In verbs that end in –car,-gar, or –zar, the spelling of the yo form changes.

Type of Verb -car verbBuscar

-gar verbLlegar

-zar verbempezar

Yo Form Busqué

(All other forms follow regular ending spellings)

Lleugué

(All other forms follow regular ending spellings)

Empecé

(All other forms follow regular ending spellings)

Here are some example of the spell change verbs…

• Ex. 1: Yo lleugué a la escuela con una demora ayer.

• Ex. 2: Yo empecé tocar la guitara en el año pasado.

• Ex. 3: Yo busqué para los animales ayer.

Here are some “key words” to look for when trying to identify the preterit

tense…

WORD MEANING

Ayer Yesterday

Pasado/Pasada In the past

Antés Before

¡OVERVIEW!

• The Preterit is formed by a stem and the appropriate ending.

• There are different ending for “ar” verbs than “er” and “ir” verbs.

• There are several irregular verbs to memorize. • A few Keywords are… Ayer- yesterday, Antés- before, and pasado/ pasada- in the

past.

¡El Fin!