El pretérito The Preterite El pasado
What is the preterite? A past tense in Spanish A tense with many irregular verbs Used to express an action that began and ended at a specific time in the past
Key terms for the preterite tense Ayer = yesterday Anteayer = the day before yesterday Anoche = last night La semana pasada = last week
More key terms El mes pasado = last month El año pasado = last year Ayer por la mañana
Regular –AR Verbs in the Preterite To conjugate: Drop the –ar Add on the appropriate endings
The preterite Yo hablé con mis amiogs ayer. Nosotros hablamos de la escuela y de los amigos. Rita me explicó que ella fue al cine con Jorge. Ellos fueron a comer en Cheeseckae Factory después. Jorge pagó para todo, los tickets, las meriendas, y la cena. Sandra pasó la tarde en la playa. ¿Y tú, esquiaste?
Hablar = spoke; talked yo hablé Nosotros hablamos Tú hablaste él, Ella, habló Ud. ellos, ellas, hablaron Uds.
Which ending is the same in the present tense? Nosotros
How will you tell the difference between the present and the preterite for the nosotros form? Context
Be careful! Yo and él, ella, Ud forms have ACCENTS!!!
Interesting note… The “yo” form in the present tense takes an “o” as its’ ending without an accent mark and the él, ella Ud form ending for the preterite tense is “ó” (o with an accent). Therefore, be careful, because the accent mark changes the meaning of the sentence.
Examples: Present Tense Hablo por teléfono. I speak on the telephone. Preterite Tense Habló por teléfono. He/ She/ You (formal) spoke on the telephone.
Two verbs with the same conjugations you say??? Which two? Ser Ir
Isn’t there anything different between the two verbs? No!
When how will I know which is which? So glad you wanted to know… Context Read the sentence for clues Translate and substitute each verb meaning in and see which one makes sense
So, what are the preterit conjugations of ser AND ir? yo fui nosotros fuimos tú fuiste él, ella, Ud. fue ellos, ellas, Uds. fueron
What about regular –er and –ir verbs? So glad you asked They are so cool! They have the exact same endings!!! Yes! Yes! Yes!
What about the nosotros form? -ER and -IR preterite endings are the same even for the nosotros form nosotros nosotros nosotros nosotros nosotros nosotros
Do any of the forms have accents?? Yes! Yes! Yes!
What are the endings for regular -er AND–ir verbs in the preterite!! Examples: Yo -í Nosotros -imos Tú -iste él, ella, Ud -ió Ellos, ellas, Uds. -ieron
So let’s conjugate vivir and comer in the preterite