19 Sep, 2009 in Uncategorized by

Spanish Tenses: The Past (Preterite)

THE PRETERITE - EL PASADO (PRETÉRITO INDEFINIDO)

We use this tense when we talk about SPECIFIC ACTIONS OR SITUATIONS IN THE PAST

This tense, EL PRETÉRITO INDEFINIDO, is used when you say sentences such as…

I lived there two years ago.

Yo viví allí dos años atrás.

They studied for the test..

Ellos estudiaron para el examen..

We bought a big house.

Compramos una casa grande.

He traveled to Miami last week.

Él viajó a Miami la semana pasada.

She left her husband.

Ella abandonó a su esposo.

Juan crashed yesterday.

Juan chocó ayer.

How to form EL PASADO (PRETÉRITO INDEFINIDO) in 3 easy steps

1 Take the verb in the infinitive form… trabajar comer partir
2 Drop the infinitive ending… trabaj- com- part-
3 Add the preterite ending…
Yo

trabajé

comí partí

trabajaste

comiste partiste
Usted

Él – Ella

trabajó

com part
Nosotros

trabajamos

comimos partimos
Vosotros

trabajásteis

comísteis partísteis
Ustedes

trabajaron

comieron partieron
Ellos

trabajaron

comieron partieron

Now it is your turn!

Conjugate the verbs in all the persons.
(caminar)

(beber)

(vivir)

Yo

Yo Yo
Usted

Él – Ella

Usted

Él – Ella

Usted

Él – Ella

Nosotros Nosotros Nosotros
Vosotros Vosotros Vosotros
Ustedes Ustedes Ustedes
Ellos Ellos Ellos

Back to the Grammar Index

Published on 19 Sep, 2009 in Uncategorized by

3 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

  1. La Gringa de Gringolandia - Gravatar

    La Gringa de Gringolandia  |  December 2nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm #

    Thank you for this wonderful website. I really appreciate all of the people who are contributing, and I especially love the listening comprehension exercises. A huge thank-you to all of the people who took the time to make recordings.
    Oh, yes–the lesson on the preterite is clear and useful!

  2. Julio Foppoli - Gravatar

    Julio Foppoli  |  December 2nd, 2009 at 1:02 pm #

    Thanks so much. I do appreciate your kind words and they are very motivating to keep working on this!

  3. MONSTER. - Gravatar

    MONSTER.  |  August 27th, 2010 at 3:19 pm #

    and this tense has irregular verbs ?

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