Past Tenses in Spanish ©CAS 2002

There are three tenses that you can use: The Past Tenses There are three tenses that you can use: The Preterite The Imperfect The Perfect In English: Preterite Tense I played I did play The Imperfect I was playing I used to play The Perfect I have played ©CAS 2002

The Preterite Tense AR Verbs In English: I played / I did play The Preterite Tense is formed by adding endings onto the stem. AR Verbs comprar I You (sg) He / she / it We You (pl) They compr compré compraste compró compramos comprasteis compraron ©CAS 2002

Practice……… caminar (to walk) dibujar (to draw) hablar (to speak) mirar (to watch) trabajar (to work) He spoke You (pl) walked I worked We watched I drew I walked She watched They worked We drew You (sg) spoke habló caminé miró caminasteis trabajaron trabajé miramos dibujamos hablaste dibujé ©CAS 2002

The Preterite Tense ER and IR Verbs vender vivir I You (sg) He / she / it We You (pl) They vend viv vendí viví vendiste viviste vendió vivió vendimos vivimos vendisteis vivisteis vendieron vivieron ©CAS 2002

Practice……… romper (to break) correr (to run) comer (to eat) elegir (to choose) discutir (to discuss) 6. You (pl) broke 7. She discussed 8. We ate 9. I ran 10. You (sg) chose 1. We ran 2. He ate 3. I chose 4. You (sg) broke 5. They discussed rompisteis corrimos discutió comió comimos elegí corrí rompiste elegiste discutieron ©CAS 2002

Irregular preterites: andar caber dar decir estar haber hacer ir poder poner producir querer saber ser tener traer venir ver to walk to fit to give to say to be to have to do/make to go to be able to put to produce to want to know to bring to come to see Check the summary sheet for the verb forms. In other words, they don’t follow any of the patterns that we have already seen. All of these verbs are irregular in the Preterite Tense. ©CAS 2002

The Imperfect Tense AR Verbs ER and IR Verbs In English: I was playing / I used to play Like the Preterite Tense, the Imperfect is formed by adding endings onto the stem. AR Verbs dejar ER and IR Verbs temer vivir dej tem viv dejaba temía vivía dejabas temías vivías dejaba temía vivía dejábamos temíamos vivíamos dejabais temíais vivíais dejaban temían vivían ©CAS 2002

The Imperfect Tense One of the good things about the Imperfect Tense is that it only has 3 irregular verbs ! Ser (to be) Ir (to go) Ver (to see) era eras éramos erais eran iba ibas íbamos ibais iban veía veías veíamos veíais veían Irregular stem and endings Uses –AR endings Stem has an extra e ©CAS 2002

Practice…… ganar (to win) cocinar (to cook) creer (to believe) esconder (to hide) decidir (to decide) 1. I was winning 2. You (pl) were hiding 3. He was cooking 4. We were deciding 5. You (sg) were believing 6. She used to believe 7. They used to hide 8. I used to win 9. We used to cook 10. You (sg) used to decide ganaba creía escondíais escondían cocinaba ganaba decidíamos cocinábamos creías decidías ©CAS 2002

The Perfect In English: I have played To form the Perfect Tense you need part of the verb haber and a past participle. haber + past participle to arrive he has ha hemos habéis han llegar lleg llegado to eat comer com comido to join unir un unido You (sg) have eaten They have arrived You (pl) have joined We have joined I have arrived He has eaten Habéis unido Han llegado Has comido Hemos unido He llegado Ha comido ©CAS 2002

Practice……… What are the past participles of these verbs ? bailar amar permitir deber aprender entrar temer vivir admitir desear esperar beber decidir prometer existir bailado amado permitido debido aprendido entrado temido vivido admitido deseado esperado bebido decidido prometido existido ©CAS 2002

There are some irregular past participles: abrir cubrir decir escribir hacer morir poner resolver ver volver to open to cover to say to write to do/make to die to put to solve to see to return abierto cubierto dicho escrito hecho muerto puesto resuelto visto vuelto ©CAS 2002

Now have a go at the exercises So there to check your A tour you are… understanding So there you are… A tour of the past tenses ©CAS 2002

FIN ©CAS 2002