SPANISH HAS TWO PAST TENSES: PRETERITE AND I MPERFECT.

THE PRETERITE I S A TENSE USED TO EXPRESS AN ACTION COMPLETED AT A DEFINITE T IME I N THE PAST (AKA: THE PAST TENSE)

IN ENGLI SH, THE REGULAR VERBS IN THE PAST TENSE END IN -ED

The Preterite

Past Expression

Ayer…….. YesterdayEl año pasado …….. Last yearanoche …….. Last nightLa semana pasada …….. Last weekAntes de la escuela …….. Before schoolanteayer …….. The day before yesterday

Salimos a las ocho anoche. We left at eight o’clock last night.

The word anoche tells you that salimos is in the preterite tense

To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply

drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:

Subject New endingpronounYo = éTú = asteÉl/ella/Ud. =óNosotros = amosEllos(as)/Uds. = aron

Notice that the yo and usted/él/ella forms have an accent over the final vowel.

Also, the nosotros(as) form is the same in the preterite as in the present tense

-er and –ir verbs

In the preterite, -er and –ir verbs endings areIdentical.

Subject New endingpronounYó = íTú = isteÉl/ella/Ud. = ióNosotros = imosEllos(as)/Uds. = ieron

The yo forms and the usted/él/ella forms take accents.Also, the nosotros(as) form of regular –ir verbs is the same in

both the preterite as in the present tense. Use context clues to determine the tense of the verb.

Verbs ending in –car, -gar, and –zar have a change

in spelling in the yo form to preserve pronunciation.

All other forms are the sameSubject pronoun

Practicar (to practice)

Navegar (to navigate)

Organizar (to organize)

C--- qu G--- gu Z---c

Yó practiqué navegué organicé

Tú practicaste navegaste organizaste

Él/ella/ud. practicó navegó organizó

Nosotros(as)

practicamos navegamos organizamos

Ellos(as)/uds.

practicaron navegaron organizaron

Irregular stems and endings verbs in the preterite

i-stems verbsHacer (to make)---- hic-/hiz*Querer (to want)---- quisVenir (to come)---- vinu-stem verbsuv- stem verbs

To all these add these preterite ending based on the subject pronoun.

-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -ieron

More iregular (see handout for details)

J- stem verbsTo these add these preterite ending-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -eron

Other irregular Verbs in the preterite

Ser and ir (to be and to go)Dar (to give)Ver (to see)

See handout for conjugations in all forms.