1. Conjugating Verbs in the Preterite Tense

2. Steps to conjugate in the Preterite
Find the stem by dropping the last two letters off of the infinitive.
ie...habl – ar
2. Add the regular preterite endings.
By: Cortney McGerty
&
Melisa Monarch

3. AR Endings To describe completed actions in the past. é amos aste
ó aron

4. ER and IR Endings To describe completed actions in the past. í imos
iste
ió ieron

5. Watch out for Orthographic spelling changes
We cannot change the original sound of
a letter by conjugating:
This happens PRIMARILY with the yo
form of AR verbs whose stems end
in C,G,or Z
c - qu
g - gu
z - c

6. Watch out for ER/IR verbs whose stem ends in a vowel
ie…leer
leí - leímos
leíste
leyó - leyeron

7. Preterite Stem Changes
3 Onlys
Only w/ ir verbs
Only one letter stem change
Only in the slipper (box 3 & 5)
ie...dormir
durmió durmieron

8. Irregular Preterite 4 7 3 2 short U I J Ver Andar I want Traer
short U I J
Ver Andar I want Traer
Ir Haber to make Decir
Dar Saber wine
Ser Tener
Estar
Poder
Poner

9. ¡Ojo! Verb Preterite Imp. saber found out knew
conocer met knew a person
querer refused (neg.) wanted
poder managed, failed had the ability
estar got, became was
tener received possessed, had

10. Practice Conjugating
ser jugar
leer dormir

11. ser jugar Practice Conjugating fui fuimos fuiste ----- fue fueron
jugué
jugamos
jugaste
jugó
jugaron

12. leer dormir Practice Conjugating leí leímos leíste ----- leyó leyeron
dormimos
dormiste
durmió
durmieron

13. For Extra Practice: http://trackstar.hprtec.org track #93334
grammar topics – preterite and imperfect