Spanish grammar · Elementary (A2)
The preterite: talking about the past
How to form the preterite (pretérito indefinido) of regular and key irregular verbs, and when to use it.
When to use it
The “preterite” is the past tense for finished actions at a specific time: yesterday, last week, in 2019. It tells the story: what happened, one event after another.
In most of Spain, for things that happened today or in a period that isn't over (, ), people usually use the present perfect instead: . In Latin America, the preterite is used for these too: .
- Ayer trabajé hasta las nueve.Yesterday I worked until nine.
- El año pasado viajamos a México.Last year we travelled to Mexico.
- ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?What did you do at the weekend?
Regular endings
The -er and -ir verbs share the same endings. Watch the written accents on the and forms: means “I speak”, means “he spoke”. The form of -ar and -ir verbs is the same as in the present: context tells you which one it is.
| Person | |||
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| / / | |||
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| / | |||
| / / |
Spelling changes
Some verbs change spelling in the form to keep the same sound: -car → -qué (: ), -gar → -gué (: ), -zar → -cé (: ).
Stem-changing -ir verbs change in the and forms: → , ; → , .
Key irregular verbs
Many common verbs have an irregular stem and special endings without accents: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. and share the same forms: can mean “I was” or “I went”. After j, the ending is -eron: . and are short and also have no accents: , , , .
| Verb | / / | / / | |
|---|---|---|---|
| / | |||
- Fuimos al cine el sábado.We went to the cinema on Saturday.
- La película fue muy buena.The film was very good.
- No pude dormir.I couldn't sleep.