The Preterit Tense The past!
First: A review of present tense AR Verb endings: o, as, a, amos, áis, an ER Verb endings: o, es, e, emos, éis, en IR Verb endings: o, es, e, imos, ís, en And of course, irregular verbs!!
The preterit tense We use the preterit tense to talk about COMPLETED ACTIONS IN THE PAST There are NO –ar or –er stem changers There ARE plenty of irregulars (you’ll learn most of those later) Verbs that end in –car, -gar, and –zar have a spelling change in the yo form. -er and –ir verbs have the same endings!
AR Endings KEEP THE STEM AND ADD: éamos asteasteis asteasteis ó aron ó aron habléhablamos hablastehablasteis hablóhablaron
ER and IR Endings KEEP THE STEM AND ADD: íimos isteisteis isteisteis ió ieron ió ieron comícomimos comistecomisteis comiócomieron
-CAR Verbs To keep the hard “c” sound (k) in verbs ending in –car, you have to make a spelling change in the yo form (ONLY in the yo form). BusCAR – to look for BusQUéBuscamos BuscasteBuscasteis BuscóBuscaron
-GAR Verbs To keep the hard “g” sound in verbs ending in –gar, you have to make a spelling change in the yo form (ONLY in the yo form). PaGAR – to pay for PaguéPagamos PagastePagasteis PagóPagaron
-ZAR Verbs Verbs ending in –zar have a spelling change in the yo form (ONLY in the yo form). Almorzar – to eat lunch AlmorcéAlmorzamos AlmorzasteAlmorzasteis AlmorzóAlmorzaron
IRREGULAR VERBS There is a finite list of irregular verbs. You will begin learn these in the next chapter. For now, just know that verbs like tener, poner, hacer, decir (yo-go verbs) are irregular. Of course, IR and SER are irregular.
Let’s Practice!!
Cocinar (to cook) The dog cooked breakfast El perro cocinó el desayuno
Bañar(se) – To bathe (yourself) I bathed the dog last night (anoche) (Yo) bañé el perro anoche.
Trabajar – to work Juan and José worked yesterday (ayer). Juan y José trabajaron ayer.
Bailar – to dance Rosa and Amelia danced last week (en la semana pasada) Rosa y Amelia bailaron en la semana pasada
Cepillar(se) los dientes Pedro brushed his teeth last night. Pedro se cepilló los dientes anoche.
Beber – to drink The cat drank water El gato bebió el agua.
Tocar – to play an instrument Ana played the flute Ana tocó la flauta
Estudiar – to study Juanita studied in the library Juanita estudió en la biblioteca
Jugar videojuegos (play videogames) I played videogames last night (Yo) juGUÉ videojuegos anoche.
Jugar videojuegos (play videogames) Anita ate a sandwich. Anita comió un sandwich.
Escribir – to write My friend wrote a letter to me Mi amigo me escribió una carta.
Comprar – to buy I bought groceries (los comestibles) (Yo) compré los comestibles
Llevar – to take, carry, or wear Luisa wore a red dress Luisa llevó un vestido rojo
Pasar tiempo con amigos The kids spent time with friends Los chicos pasaron tiempo con amigos
Tocar la guitarra Jimmy played the guitar Jaime tocó la guitarra
Montar en bici Pablo rode the bike Pablo montó en bici.
Llorar – to cry Carlos cried Carlos lloró
Llorar – to cry Carlos cried Carlos lloró