Preterite / Past tense

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:

Yo = é
Tú = aste
Él/ella/Ud. = ó
Nosotros/as = amos
Vosotros/as = asteis
Ellos/as/Uds. = aron

Hablar = To Talk
Yo hablé

Tú hablaste,

Él/ella/Ud. habló

Nosotros hablamos

Vosotros hablasteis

Ellos/as/Uds. hablaron

Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed.
Use of the preterite tense implies that the past action had a definite beginning and definite end.

Juan habló de la una hasta las dos.
Juan spoke from one until two o'clock.
(clearly stated beginning and end)

It is important to realize that the beginning and the end may not always be clearly stated.

Juan habló dos horas.
Juan spoke for two hours.
(implied beginning and end)

Juan habló con la estudiante.
Juan spoke with the student.
(implied beginning and end)

The preterite tells us specifically when an action took place.

To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following:

Yo = í
Tú = iste
Él/ella/Ud. = ió
Nosotros = imos
Vosotros = isteis
Ellos = ieron

Here are all three regular preterite verb forms together:

hablar	comer	vivir
hablé	comí	viví
hablaste	comiste	viviste
habló	comió	vivió
hablamos	comimos	vivimos
hablasteis	comisteis	vivisteis
hablaron	comieron	vivieron

Note: the nosotros forms for -ar and -ir verbs are the same in both preterite and present tenses: hablamos, vivimos.

Uses of Preterite:
The preterite is used for actions that can be viewed as single events.

Ella caminó por el parque.
She walked through the park.

Ellos llegaron a las ocho.
They arrived at eight o'clock.

The preterite is used for actions that were repeated a specific number of times, or occurred during a specific period of time.

Ayer escribí tres cartas.
Yesterday I wrote three letters.

Vivimos allí por cuatro años.
We lived there for four years.

The preterite is used for actions that were part of a chain of events.

Ella se levantó, se vistió, y salió de la casa.
She got up, dressed, and left the house.

The preterite is used to state the beginning or the end of an action.

Empezó a nevar a las ocho de la mañana.
It began to snow at eight in the morning.

The preterite is used for past actions that are seen as completed.

Preterite: regular -ar verbs

-é
-aste
-ó

-amos
-asteis

-aron

hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron

Preterite: regular -er

-í
-iste
-ió

-imos
-isteis

ieron

comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron

Preterite: regular -ir verbs

-í
-iste
-ió

-imos
-isteis

ieron

viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos, vivisteis, vivieron

Preterite Part I: Quiz #1

A. Choose the correct preterite tense conjugation for model verbs (hablar, comer, vivir).

1. hablar
él



2. hablar
ellos



3. comer
yo



4. comer
Juan



5. vivir
él, ella y yo

B. Choose the correct preterite tense conjugation for model verbs (hablar, comer, vivir).

6. tú
comí
comiste
comís



7. los hombres
comen
comieron
comían



8. usted
viví
vivió
vive






9. yo
hablé
habló
hablaba



10. ustedes
viven
vivían
vivieron