Preterite Tense
The Simple Past In English, the simple past tense expresses an action that already took place. For regular verbs in English, the past tense is formed by adding –ed to the verb.
The Simple Past Example I Walked We You Y’all He, she, it They
The Simple Past The past tense conjugation is the same for all persons. Some verbs, like to go, are irregular in the past tense (went). Ex. Martha played soccer yesterday. We went to the game but only watched.
The Preterite Tense In Spanish, the preterite tense, like the simple past in English, is used to talk about what happened or what someone did at a specific point in the past. To form the preterite of regular verbs, just like present, you drop the last two letters (-ar, -er, -ir) and replace it with the ending that corresponds to its subject.
Preterite Endings for –ar Verbs Yo -é Nosotros -amos Tú -aste Vosotros -asteis Usted, el, ella -ó Ustedes, ellos, ellas -aron
Endings for –er and -ir Verbs Yo -í Nosotros -imos Tú -iste Vosotros -isteis Usted, el, ella -ió Ustedes, ellos, ellas -ieron
Endings for Regular Verbs The nosotros form of –ar and –ir verbs looks the same as in the present. The context must help you decide whether it is present or past. Stem-changing verbs that end in –ar and –er don’t have a stem change in the preterite. The verb ver has regular preterite endings but without written accents.
Hacer- to do Yo Hice Nosotros Hicimos Tú Hiciste Vosotros Hicisteis Usted, el, ella Hizo Ustedes, ellos, ellas Hicieron
Ir- to go Yo Fui Nosotros Fuimos Tú Fuiste Vosotros Fuisteis Usted, el, ella Fue Ustedes, ellos, ellas Fueron
Assigment pp. 66-67 section 32,33, & 34