Estaba corriendo cuando se me rompió el zapato (I was running when my shoe broke).Estaba durmiendo cuando mi perro ladró ruidosamente (I was sleeping when my dog barked loudly).When an ongoing event (denoted with the verb phrase “estar” (in imperfect) + gerund (verb form ending with -iendo or -ando in Spanish and -ing in English) is interrupted by another event, the preterite is used. (You came in, drank a glass of water, and ate a hamburger). Tú entraste, bebiste un vaso de agua y comiste una hamburguesa.(I got up, got dressed, and left for the party). Me levanté, me vestí, y salí para la fiesta.The preterite is used for listing past happenings that took place in a sequence. The preterite is used to discuss past events or actions that took place on specific days or dates, at specific times, and over specific time periods. Empezar (to begin), comenzar (to begin), terminar (to finish), and acabar are key verbs used to talk about beginnings and endings in the past (to end). The preterite is also used to discuss beginnings and endings. The preterite is used to describe completed events, particularly those with distinct beginnings and endings. It is used to discuss beginnings and endings, events that occurred on specific days or dates, at specific times or during specific time periods, and events in a sequence. The preterite is used to discuss completed actions from the past. Some major uses of Preterite tense in Spanish Irregular Spanish Preterite Formsįour of the most common verbs with irregular preterite forms are ser, ir, dar, and ver. (Yesterday we cooked paella for my family). Ayer cocinamos paella para mi familia.Siempre cocinamos paella los domingos.Adverbs like siempre (always) and ayer (yesterday) can help you determine whether a nosotros form refers to the past or the present. Los perros tenían dos años cuando los adopté - The dogs were two years old when I adopted themĥ.For regular -ar and -ir verbs, the first person plural (nosotros) endings are the same in the preterite and present tenses. To talk about times and dates in the pastĮran las tres de la tarde - It was three o'clock in the afternoon Mi papá cocinaba cuando entré a casa - My dad was cooking when I came in the houseģ. And the action that interrupted is in the preterite The action in progress is in the imperfect. To talk about an action that was happening when something else interrupted. Todos los sábados las mujeres iban de compras - Every Saturday the ladies would go shoppingĢ. To talk about habitual or repeated actions in the past.Īlmorzábamos cada día - We used to eat lunch together every day Just like regular verbs in preterite forms, you just need to remove the infinitive ending and add the imperfect ending that matches the subject.īelow you will find conjugations of three common verbs: ir, ser, and ver. I got up, got dressed, and left for the party Spanish Imperfect Tense Me levanté, me vestí, y salí para la fiesta Vivió en Perú por tres meses - He lived in Peru for three months Regresé anoche a las diez - I got back last night at ten To talk about past events or actions that occurred on specific times, dates, or periods La película terminó con una sorpresa - The movie ended with a surpriseģ. To talk about beginnings and ends in the past Roberto nació en Costa Rica - Roberto was born in Costa RicaĢ. To talk about completed events or actions in the pastĬompré un coche nuevo - I bought a new car The table below will show you irregular preterite forms of some common verbs. To verbs with irregular preterite forms, you need to memorize their conjugations. Siempre cocinamos paella los domingos - We always cook paella on SundaysĪyer cocinamos paella para mi familia - Yesterday we cooked paella for my family Therefore, you need to consider the context and adverbs of the sentence to figure out it refers to the past or the present. The endings of regular - ar and - ir verbs for nosotros are the same in both preterite and present tenses.It can change the tense and subject of a sentence. Remember that the preterite forms of yo, él, ella, and usted have tildes on the final vowel. To conjugate regular preterite verbs, you just need to remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add the preterite ending that matches the subject. The table below will show you preterite endings of regular verbs in Spanish. Just like other tenses, you will need to learn how to conjugate verbs to match the subject and tense. Basically, there are two major past tenses: Preterite and Imperfect. In this lesson, we will learn how to use Spanish past tense to talk about actions completed at a point in the past.
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