El pretérito
2 forms of (indicative) past tense Preterite Imperfect
Uses of preterite tense Describe an action or several actions completed at a fixed time in the past. ayer, anteayer, el año pasado, 2001. . . Discuss actions/events completed in the past. even if action occurred over a period of time, the focus is action is completed.
Ejemplos Ayer tuve un examen de química. Se encontró con Lola anoche. Yesterday I had a chemistry exam. Se encontró con Lola anoche. Last night he ran into Lola. Escribí una carta a mi madre. I wrote a letter to my mom. All occurred at a specific time in the past and are definitely completed.
Foreshadowing. . . Generally any time you talk about an emotional state or mental activity in the past you would use the imperfect He believed, I knew, We doubted. . . Unless conveying that state or activity is definitely over. Until we learn imperfect, focus on writing and talking about concrete/specific past activities, NOT emotional/mental states.
How to form?
Regular –ar verbs Take off infinitive ending and to the stem add the following endings. é amos aste asteis ó aron
Ejemplos Yo hablé Tú hablaste Ella habló Nosotros hablamos Vosotros hablasteis Ellos hablaron
Exceptions When a regular verb ends in: car (buscar, explicar, tocar, sacar) gar (jugar, llegar, apagar, colgar) zar (empezar) a spelling change occurs in the “yo” form. car c changes to qu Buscar yo busqué gar g changes to gu Llegar yo llegué zar z changes to c Empezar yo empecé
Regular –er & -ir verbs í imos iste isteis ió ieron
Ejemplos Comer “to eat” Escribir “to write” comí comimos comiste comisteis comió comieron Escribir “to write” escribí escribimos escribiste escribisteis escribió escribieron
Stem-changing verbs
-ar and –er verbs -ar and –er stem-changing verbs in the present tense do NOT have a stem change in the preterite.
-ir verbs -ir verbs with a stem-change in the present tense, continue to have a stem-change in the preterite tense but it is a different stem-change
In the present tense the stem-change occurs in all singular forms and 3rd person plural aka the boot verbs
In the preterite tense, the stem-change occurs ONLY in 3rd person—both singular and plural. Aka the BRICK verbs
Also, the stem-change is not the same as it is in the present-tense. Basically your two options are –u or –i. -ue in present tense -u in preterite tense -ie in present tense -i in preterite tense -i in present tense -i in preterite tense
They are the same stem-changes that occur in the present participle. While this may seem like a lot of new stuff to learn, you already know these stem-changes. They are the same stem-changes that occur in the present participle. durmiendo, viniendo, sirviendo
In your book, stem-changes are shown in () after the verb In your book, stem-changes are shown in () after the verb. If you see something like (ue, u), this means that the stem changes to ue in the present tense and u in the preterite tense (and also present participle)
Irregular Verbs
Ser “to be” & Ir “to go” fui fuimos fuiste fuisteis fue fueron Ayer fue el 18 de septiembre. Yo fui a mi clase de yoga el lunes.
Dar “to give” di dimos Yo di el libro a Juan diste disteis Ella dio una carta a él dio dieron Note: endings for dar are –er/-ir endings sans accents.
Estar “to be” estuve estuvimos estuviste estuvisteis estuvo estuvieron Estuve con mi hijo en el mercado ¿Estuviste a casa ayer?
leer “to read” oír “to hear” leí leímos oí oímos leiste leísteis oíste oísteis leyó leyeron oyó oyeron The -i changes to a –y in 3rd person. (–i between 2 vowels changes to a –y) Note use of accents!
Ver “to see” vi vimos viste visteis vio vieron Conjugation is basically regular –er conjugation, but there are NO accents!
decir, hacer, tener These three irregular verbs are similar in their irregularity of conjugation in the preterite tense in that there are NO accents. -e, -iste, -o, imos, -isteis, -ieron However, there are still some exceptions.
decir “to say” dije dijimos dijiste dijisteis dijo dijeron Note: 3rd person plural ending –eron NOT –ieron. Decir is a –J stem verb because the last letter in the stem is a –J. In J-stem verbs, the ending is only –eron.
hacer “to make/do” hice hicimos hiciste hicisteis hizo hicieron Note: 3rd person singular –c in stem changes to –z.
tener “to have” tuve tuvimos tuviste tuvisteis tuvo tuvieron
El Fin