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 EndingsKEEP THE STEM AND ADD:

é amos

aste asteis

ó aron

hablé hablamos

hablaste hablasteis

habló hablaron

ER and IR EndingsKEEP THE STEM AND ADD:

í imos

iste isteis

ió ieron

comí comimos

comiste comisteis

comió comieron

-CAR VerbsTo 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

BusQUé Buscamos

Buscaste Buscasteis

Buscó Buscaron

-GAR VerbsTo 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

Pagué Pagamos

Pagaste Pagasteis

Pagó Pagaron

-ZAR VerbsVerbs ending in –zar have a

spelling change in the yo form (ONLY in the yo form).

Almorzar – to eat lunch

Almorcé Almorzamos

Almorzaste Almorzasteis

Almorzó Almorzaron

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 danceRosa and Amelia danced last week (en la semana pasada)

Rosa y Amelia bailaron en la semana pasada

Cepillar(se) los dientesPedro brushed his teeth last night.

Pedro se cepilló los dientes anoche.

Beber – to drinkThe cat drank water

El gato bebió el agua.

Tocar – to play an instrumentAna played the flute

Ana tocó la flauta

Estudiar – to studyJuanita 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 writeMy friend wrote a letter to me

Mi amigo me escribió una carta.

Comprar – to buyI bought groceries (los comestibles)

(Yo) compré los comestibles

Llevar – to take, carry, or wearLuisa wore a red dress

Luisa llevó un vestido rojo

Pasar tiempo con amigosThe kids spent time with friends

Los chicos pasaron tiempo con amigos

Tocar la guitarraJimmy played the guitar

Jaime tocó la guitarra

Montar en biciPablo rode the bike

Pablo montó en bici.

Llorar – to cryCarlos cried

Carlos lloró

Llorar – to cryCarlos cried

Carlos lloró