The Preterite/El Pretérito Avancemos 2 – Unidad 1 Lección 2
El Pretérito The preterite tense in Spanish is used to tell what happened at a particular moment in the past. It is one of two past tenses that you will learn this year. It is used for actions that are completed and done. (Boom actions). Examples: He wrote a postcard. She rode the horse. They visited the museum.
El Pretérito Like present tense verbs, you form the preterite tense of regular verbs by crossing out the AR/ER/ or IR ending and adding a new ending to the stem. The endings are pretty easy to remember for regular verbs (there is a song – YAY!!!) We are going to begin by learning the regular “AR” verb endings.
El Pretérito Yo visité - I visited Nosotros visitamos – we visited Regular – AR preterite endings Verb – visitar (to visit) Cross off ar – stem = visit Yo visité - I visited Nosotros visitamos – we visited Tú visitaste – you visited Él/ella Usted visitó – he/she/you visited Ellos/ellas Ustedes visitaron - They/you guys visited
El Pretérito NOTE: The nosotros/nosotras ending in the preterite tense has the same ending as in the present tense. Look for context clues in the sentence to help you determine whether the verb is in the present or the past tense. Example: El año pasado nosotros tomamos muchas fotos. Clue words - El año pasado (last year). Last year tells you that this sentence is in the preterite (past) tense and not the present.
The day before yesterday El Pretérito Some useful words and phrases you should know to use with the preterite tense. (****add these to your packet – you will need them) El año pasado = El mes pasado = La semana pasada = Ayer = Anteayer = Anoche = Una vez = De repente = Ya = Last year Last month Last week Yesterday The day before yesterday Last night One time Suddenly already
El Pretérito – Práctica 1) Conjugate the following verbs in the preterite tense. 2) Then, translate the sentence into English. Ellas _______ (pescar) ayer. Yo ________ (visitar) el museo anteayer. Usted ______ (montar) a caballo el mes pasado. La semana pasada mis amigos y yo ______ (acampar). pescaron/They fished yesterday. visité/I visited the museum the day before yesterday. montó/You (formal) rode a horse last month. acampamos/Last week my friends and I camped.
El Pretérito – Los verbos regulares “er” & “ir” The preterite endings for regular “er” and “ir” verbs are different from the preterite endings for “ar” verbs. However, the good news is that regular “er” and regular “ir” verbs have THE SAME preterite endings!! So, once you have memorized the “er” endings, you will also know the “ir” endings More good news!! There is also A SONG to help you remember the “ar”/”er”/”ir” preterite endings!!!! :D
Pronunciación de los vocales Before learning the song to memorize regular preterite endings, it is important to learn the sounds of the vowels in Spanish. They are somewhat confusing in the song until you learn how they sound in Spanish. IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN THESE VOWEL SOUNDS!!!
Sound it makes in Spanish Los Vocales - They are the same vowels in Spanish and English. (a.e.i.o.u) Vowels Sound it makes in Spanish -a -e -I -o -u Pronounced “aaaah” as in apple Pronounced “eh” as in tres Pronounced “eee” as in tree Pronounced “oh” like the English “oh” Pronounced “oooo” as in tú.
Práctica del Paquete Ellas _____ (pescar) ayer. Yo (visitar) el museo anteayer. Usted ____ (montar) a caballo el mes pasado. La semana pasada mis amigos y yo _____ (acampar). Ellas pescaron ayer. Yo visité el museo anteayer. Usted montó a caballo el mes pasado. La semana pasada mis amigos y yo acampamos.