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Preterit of regular verbs
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The preterit is one of two simple past tenses in Spanish. The other simple past tense is called the imperfect and will be presented later. The preterit is used to refer to events the speaker considers as complete and past. Note that the endings for -er and -ir verbs are exactly the same.
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hablar
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comer
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salir
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Singular |
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yo
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hablé
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comí
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salí
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tú
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hablaste
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comiste
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saliste
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él, ella,
usted
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habló
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comió
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salió
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EXAMPLES: |
Yo hablé con Mario ayer.
I spoke with Mario yesterday.Ella comió la cena a las cinco.
She ate dinner at five.
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Plural |
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nosotros(as)
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hablamos
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comimos
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salimos
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vosotros(as)
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hablasteis
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comisteis
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salisteis
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ellos(as)
ustedes
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hablaron
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comieron
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salieron
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EXAMPLES: |
Nosotros hablamos en espaÒol.
We spoke in Spanish.Ellos salieron el baile temprano.
They left the dance early.
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Attention:
The preterit nosotros form for -ar -ir, and -er verbs is identical to its present tense form. Look for context clues to distinguish between tenses. |
Comimos tarde anoche.
We ate late last night.
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Attention:
Certain verbs change endings in the yo form. For example: -gar verbs change g to gu -car verbs change c to qu -zar verbs change z to c
These verbs do not change in the other forms. |
llegar ---> yo llegué
sacar ---> yo saqué
empezar---> yo empecé
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Attention:
Present tense stem-changing verbs such as e to ie and o to ue are usually regular in the preterit. |
ella empieza --> empezó
ellos cuentan --> contaron
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Attention:
There is no equivalent in Spanish for the English word did used in questions and negative sentences. Use the simple preterit forms. |
øTomaste una cerveza?
Did you drink a beer?
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