Preterite Tense

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The Preterite Tense is one of two past tenses, with its partner-in-crime being the imperfect. Since there are two past tenses, they are used only in specific scenarios; however, that will be discussed in the Imperfect Page. In order to conjugate regular verbs, we follow two steps:

  1. Remove the ending of the infinitive (take off the "ar" in "hablar").
  2. Add the following endings according to the subject!
AR Conjugations
é amos
aste asteis
ó aron
Examples
  • I talked with her yesterday. ---> Yo hablé con ella ayer.
  • We studied in the library. ---> Nosotros estudiamos en la biblioteca.
ER/IR Conjugations
í imos
iste isteis
ió ieron
Examples
  • We lived in Brazil for two weeks. ---> Nosotros vivimos en Brazil por dos semanas.
  • She ate in the kitchen. ---> Ella comí en la cocina.

Irregular Conjugations

There are 7 different groups of Irregular Verbs. Click on one to learn more!

CAR, GAR, ZAR Verbs

Characteristics:

Letter Changes ONLY to YO form.

  • c --> qu
  • g --> gu
  • z --> c

    Examples

  • Tocar: toqué, tocaste, tocó, tocamos, tocasteis, tocaron
  • Llegar: llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron
  • Empezar: empecé, empezaste, empezó, empezamos, empezasteis, empezaron

Double Vowel Verbs

Characteristics:
  1. For Book Verbs (leer, caer, creer, oír) and "Uir" verbs (construir, destruir, influir)
  2. 3rd and 6th form - "i" goes to "y"
  3. Accents on all first "i" (does not apply to "uir" verbs")

    Examples

  • Leer: leí, leí, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron
  • Influir: influí, influiste, influyó, influimos, influisteis, influyeron

IR Stem Changers

Characteristics:
  • Applies to all IR verbs that stem change in the present tense
  • Third and Sixth form: e ---> i, o ---> u (depending on verb)

    Examples

  • Servir: serví, serviste, sirvió, servimos, servisteis, sirvieron
  • Dormir: dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron

Miscellaneous Group

Characteristics
  • No Accents.
  • Dar and Ver are almost identical.
  • Ir and Ser are identical.
  • Dar: di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron
  • Ver: vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron
  • Ir: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
  • Ser: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

U Group

Characteristics:
  • U in stem and no accents
  • First and third forms - AR endings
  • Rest of forms - ER/IR endings
    • E, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron
    Note: each verb in this category has their own stem.
Example: Estar
estuveestuvimos
estuvisteestuvisteis
estuvoestuvieron
Verb Stem
Estar Estuv
Poner Pus
Poder Pud
Saber Sup
Tener Tuv
Andar Anduv

I group

Characteristics:
  • I in stem
  • No accents
  • First and third form - AR endings
  • Everything else - ER/IR endings
    • E, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron

    Examples

  • Venir - vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron
  • Hacer - hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
  • Querer - quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron

J Group

Characteristics:
  • All "cir" verbs + 'traer'
  • J in stem
  • No accents
  • First and third form - AR endings
  • Rest - ER/IR endings
  • Sixth form is 'eron' (no 'i')

    Examples

  • Conducir: conduje, condujiste, condujo, condujimos, condujisteis, condujeron
  • Traer: traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron
  • Decir: dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron
Practice! No punctuation.
Note: If the answer ends with an accented letter, click space, then backspace/delete to see if answer is correct.