PRETERITE TENSE

USES OF PRETERITE TENSE IN SPANISH

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The preterite tense is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past.

IMPORTANT: the first and third person singular conjugations of the preterite tense require accents:
Yo hablé a los estudiantes I talked to the students
Él/ella habló a los estudiantes He/she talked to the students

CONJUGATION OF SPANISH -AR VERBS:
To form the preterite tense, you drop the -AR of the infinitive form and add the appropriate endings for each person. Using the right ending on a verb is very important.

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE ENDINGS!!!

HABLAR
Yo hablé
Tú hablaste
Él/ella habló*
Usted habló*
Nosotros(as) hablamos
Vosotros(as) hablasteis**
Ellos/ellas hablaron*
Ustedes hablaron*

TO TALK/TO SPEAK
I talked
you talked (informal)
he/she talked
you talked (formal)
we talked
you all talked (informal)
they talked
you all talked (formal)

*Note that the subject pronoun USTED takes the same ending as the ÉL or ELLA form; and USTEDES take the same ending as the ELLOS or ELLAS form of the verb.

**VOSOTROS/VOSOTRAS forms are used in much of Spain; however, they are not used in Latin America.

MORE -AR VERBS CONJUGATED:

BAILAR     TO DANCE
Yo bailé     I danced
Tú bailaste     you danced
Él/ella bailó     he/she danced
Usted bailó     you danced
Nosotros(as) bailamos     we danced
Ellos/ellas bailaron     they danced
Ustedes bailaron     you all danced

ESTUDIAR     TO STUDY
Yo estudié     I studied
Tú estudiaste     you studied
Él/ella estudió     he/she studied
Usted estudió     you studied
Nosotros(as) estudiamos     we studied
Ellos/ellas estudiaron     they studied
Ustedes estudiaron     you all studied

MORE REGULAR -AR VERBS IN THE PRETERITE TENSE ...

caminar     to walk
cantar     to sing
comprar     to buy
enseñar     to teach
pasear     to go for a walk
preparar     to prepare
tomar     to take/to drink

CONJUGATION OF SPANISH -ER AND -IR VERBS:
To form the preterite tense, you drop the -ER or -IR of the infinitive and add the appropriate ending for each person. Note that -ER and -IR verbs have the same endings in the preterite tense.

PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE ENDINGS!!!

COMER     TO EAT
Yo comí     I ate
Tú comiste     you ate
Él/ella comió     he/she ate
Usted comió     you ate
Nosotros(as) comimos     we ate
Vosotros(as) comisteis     you all ate
Ellos/ellas comieron     they ate
Ustedes comieron     you all ate

VIVIR     TO LIVE
Yo viví     I lived
Tú viviste     you lived
Él/ella vivió     he/she lived
Usted vivió     you lived
Nosotros(as) vivimos     we lived
Vosotros(as) vivisteis     you all lived
Ellos/ellas vivieron     they lived
Ustedes vivieron     you all lived

As noted before, the subject pronoun USTED takes the same ending as the ÉL or ELLA form; and USTEDES take the same ending as the ELLOS or ELLAS form of the verb.
TÚ → you (informal - when talking to a friend, a family member, or to someone who is younger than you).
USTED → you (formal - when talking to an older person who has a higher rank than you do, or when you want to be polite to a person you do not know very well).
VOSOTROS → you all (informal), and USTEDES → you all (formal).

MORE -ER AND -IR VERBS CONJUGATED:

BEBER     TO DRINK
Yo bebí     I drank
Tú bebiste     you drank
Él/ella bebió    he/she drank
Usted bebió     you drank
Nosotros(as) bebimos    we drank
Ellos/ellas bebieron     they drank
Ustedes bebieron    you all drank

ESCRIBIR     TO WRITE
Yo escribí     I wrote
Tú escribiste     you wrote
Él/ella escribió     he/she wrote
Usted escribió     you wrote
Nosotros(as) escribimos     we wrote
Ellos/ellas escribieron     they wrote
Ustedes escribieron     you all write

MORE REGULAR -ER AND -IR VERBS IN THE PRETERITE TENSE ...

abrir     to open
aprender     to learn
barrer     to sweep
cubrir     to cover
decidir     to decide
discutir     to discuss
existir     to exist
insistir     to insist
salir     to go out
sorprender     to surprise
sufrir     to suffer
vender     to sale