Talking about the past
What happened
Preterite
Present an event as completed in the past.
Endings refresher
Preterite
For regular verbs, remove -ar, -er or -ir and add the person ending.
| Person | -ar ending | -er / -ir ending |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | -í |
| tú | -aste | -iste |
| él / ella / usted | -ó | -ió |
| nosotros / nosotras | -amos | -imos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -asteis | -isteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aron | -ieron |
comer → com- + -í → yo comí
- Keep the accents: compré and compró refer to different people. Irregular stems use different endings.
- These charts use tú. Vosotros / vosotras is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final row. Vos forms vary by region.
Irregular preterite
Common strong preterites use a special stem plus these endings. Hacer uses hic-, except hizo.
| Person | Usual ending | Hacer |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -e | hice |
| tú | -iste | hiciste |
| él / ella / usted | -o | hizo |
| nosotros / nosotras | -imos | hicimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -isteis | hicisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ieron | hicieron |
hacer → hic- + -e → yo hice
- Other stems include tuv-, estuv-, pud-, pus- and quis-. These forms do not take the regular yo / él written accents.
- Stems ending in j take -eron in the final row: decir → dijeron. Ser and ir instead use fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron.
- These charts use tú. Vosotros / vosotras is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final row. Vos forms vary by region.
The pattern
- Forms below follow: yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ustedes. Vosotros is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final form.
- Drop -ar: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron.
- Drop -er/-ir: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Compré pan ayer.
I bought bread yesterday.
Why it works: Compré uses the yo preterite ending -é. The purchase is presented as a completed event.
Notice the difference
Compraba pan allí cada mañana.
I used to buy bread there every morning.
Why it works: Compraba describes an ongoing past routine rather than presenting one purchase as a completed event.
One thing to watch for
Common irregulars include fui, tuve, hice and dije. A past time word alone does not always determine the tense.