Spanish · Elementary (A2) · Chapter 1 of 12
Talking about the past
Hablar del pasado
Say what you did yesterday or last weekend with the Spanish preterite, including ir, ser, hacer, estar and tener, and say when it happened.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say what you did yesterday or last weekend
- Ask someone what they did
- Use the preterite of regular verbs and of ir, ser, hacer, estar and tener
- Say when something happened: ayer, el sábado pasado, hace dos días
Listen
On Monday morning in an office in Seville, Rocío asks her colleague Javier about his weekend. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Rocío
Hola, Javier. ¿Qué tal el fin de semana?
Hi, Javier. How was your weekend?
Javier
Muy bien, gracias. El sábado fui a Cádiz con mi mujer.
Really good, thanks. On Saturday I went to Cádiz with my wife.
Rocío
¡Qué bien! ¿Y qué hicisteis?
That's great! And what did you do?
Javier
Por la mañana paseamos por la playa y luego comimos pescado en un restaurante del centro.
In the morning we walked along the beach, and then we had fish for lunch at a restaurant in the centre.
Rocío
¿Y volvisteis a Sevilla el sábado?
And did you come back to Seville on Saturday?
Javier
No, volvimos ayer por la tarde. ¿Y tú? ¿Qué hiciste?
No, we came back yesterday afternoon. And you? What did you do?
Rocío
Pues el sábado trabajé en casa todo el día. Y por la noche salí con mis amigas.
Well, on Saturday I worked at home all day. And in the evening I went out with my friends.
Javier
¿Adónde fuisteis?
Where did you go?
Rocío
Fuimos a cenar a un bar de tapas en Triana. Fue muy divertido.
We went for dinner at a tapas bar in Triana. It was great fun.
Javier
¿Y ayer?
And yesterday?
Rocío
Ayer no hice nada. Me levanté a las doce y comí en casa de mis padres.
Yesterday I didn't do anything. I got up at twelve and had lunch at my parents' house.
Understand
The preterite of regular verbs
To talk about finished actions in the past, such as what you did yesterday or last weekend, Spanish uses the “preterite” (). Take off -ar, -er or -ir and add the endings below. -er and -ir verbs share the same endings.
Watch the written accents: means “I work”, but means “he or she worked”. The form of -ar and -ir verbs is the same as in the present (, ), so words like make the meaning clear.
-ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present, like (), are regular in the preterite: , . (-ir verbs like and change only in the and forms: , .) Reflexive verbs keep their pronoun: (I got up).
| Person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / / | |||
| / | |||
| / | |||
| / / |
Ir, ser, hacer, estar and tener
The most common verbs are irregular in the preterite, so learn them by heart. (to go) and (to be) have exactly the same forms: can mean “I went” or “I was”. The rest of the sentence makes it clear: (I went to Cádiz), (It was great fun).
These irregular forms have no written accents: , , , , , .
| Person | / | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| / / | ||||
| / | ||||
| / | ||||
| / / |
When did it happen?
These time expressions go with the preterite. (last) agrees with the noun: , .
To say “ago”, put before the length of time: (two days ago). For parts of the day without a clock time, use : , , . With a clock time it's : .
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| yesterday | |
| last night | |
| on Saturday (this past Saturday) | |
| last weekend | |
| last week | |
| last month | |
| last year | |
| two days ago |
More in the grammar: The preterite: talking about the past
New words
- el fin de semanaweekend · How was your weekend?
- fuiI went; I was · preterite of both and
- por la mañanain the morning · also ,
- pasearto go for a walk, to walk around
- la playabeach · feminine
- el pescadofish (as food) · masculine
- el centrotown centre, city centre · masculine
- volverto come back, to go back · present: , …
- ayeryesterday
- todo el díaall day
- salirto go out, to leave · present: , …
- ¿Adónde?Where (to)? · with verbs of movement:
- divertido / divertidafun, funny
- en casa de…at …'s house · : at my parents' house
Practise
1.How do you say “I went to the beach”?
2.Complete with the preterite of ().
Yesterday we had fish at the beach.
3.Complete with the preterite of ().
What did you do at the weekend?
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I went out with my friends on Saturday.
5.Match the time expressions.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.In , which verb is ?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?
What did you do at the weekend?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.