The Preterite Tense Spanish 1 – 6.2
Preterite Tense The preterite is a tense used to express an action completed at a DEFINITE or SPECIFIC time in the past (example: yesterday, last night, etc.) In English we refer to the preterite tense as the past tense. In English, regular verbs in the past tense end in –ed Examples: You lifted weights yesterday. (past tense) = Usted levantó pesas ayer. (preterite tense)
So, how are regular preterite verbs conjugated? We use the same process as conjugating verbs in the present tense. Take off the ar/er/ir from the infinitive (depending on the type of verb). Add the preterite endings (different than present tense endings).
Regular “AR” verb preterite endings Yo é Tú aste Él/ella Usted ó Nosotros/as amos Ellos/ellas Uds aron **Note that the nosotros form is the same conjugation as the present tense for –ar verbs
***Please Note – that the yo and él/ella/ud form have accents (acentos) Práctica del Paquete They sunbathed. You (informal) walked. We snorkeled. Mario swam. Ellos tomaron el sol. Tu caminaste. Nosotros buceamos. Mario nadó.
Preterite of Regular –er and –ir verbs In order to use regular –er and –ir verbs in the preterite tense, we need to know how to conjugate each of them. The good news is that both the –er and the –ir verbs conjugate with the same preterite endings . This means we only have to memorize 2 sets of endings, one for –ar verbs, and one for –er/-ir verbs. We use the same step process as we do for the conjugation of all verbs. Cross off the –er or –ir ending from the infinitive. We are then left with the stem of the verb. Now we add the correct –er/-ir endings
Regular “ER/IR” verb preterite endings Yo í Tú iste Él/ella Usted ió Nosotros/as imos Ellos/ellas Uds ieron **Note that the nosotros form is the same conjugation as the present tense –ir verb ending. Also that the yo and él/ella/ud. forms have accents (acentos)
Práctica del paquete Ellos perdieron el partido. They lost the game. Nosotros corrimos rápido. Yo escribí en la pizarra. Ella recibió el regalo ayer. Tú abriste la puerta ayer. They lost the game. We ran fast. I wrote on the board. She received the gift yesterday. You (inf) opened the door.