Equivalent to the English Past Tense The Preterite Tense Equivalent to the English Past Tense

Regular (-AR) verbs in the Preterite Tense To form the preterite tense of –ar verbs, add the following endings to the stem of the infinitive. Remember drop the (-ar) and then add the ending. Then nosotros(-as) form of the preterite of –AR verbs is identical to the nosotros(-as) form in the present tense. Stem changing verbs of the –AR conjugation do not undergo any stem change in the preterite tense. The word did in the construction did not and in questions Did you…? Is not translated into Spanish. Remember helping verbs do not exist in Spanish. To make it negative you simply add no directly before the verb and to form a question place the subject after the verb. -é -amos -aste ------- -ó -aron

have a spelling change in the “yo” form of the pretérito. Irregular –ar verbs with endings -car, -gar and -zar have a spelling change in the “yo” form of the pretérito. “-qué” “-gué” “-cé” -car -gar -zar

buscar tocar practicar pagar jugar llegar almorzar empezar comenzar The “yo” form of the pretérito changes to conserve the sound of the infinitive: buscar tocar practicar pagar jugar llegar almorzar empezar comenzar

Regular (-er) and (–ir) verbs in the Preterite Tense -er and –ir verbs have the same set of preterite endings. These endings are added to the stem of the infinitive. Stem-changing verbs of the –er conjugation do not undergo any stem change in the preterite tense. A few stem changing –ir verbs such as dormer and sentir also have stem changes in the preterite. EXCEPTION: The verb VER has the regular preterite endings but the accent marks are usually omitted. -í -imos -iste ------ -ió -ieron vi vimos viste ----- vio vieron

U group

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense “U” group or “U” stem These preterite forms have no accent marks Verbs in this group have preterite stems containing the letter u The endings that are added to these special stems are The preterite of tener sometimes means got, received. The preterite tense of saber means found out, learned ( =found out). -e -imos -iste ------ -o -ieron

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense –U group Andar – to walk, to go Caber – To fit Estar – To be Poder -To be able to, can Anduve Anduvimos Anduviste ---------- Anduvo anduvieron Cupe Cupimos Cupiste ------ Cupo Cupieron Estuve Estuvimos Estuviste -------- Estuvo Estuvieron Pude Pudimos Pudiste ------- Pudo Pudieron

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense –U group Saber – to know sometimes found out, learned Poner –To put, to set Tener – to have, sometimes got, recieved Puse Pusimos Pusiste ------ Puso Pusieron Supe Supimos Supiste -------- Supo Supieron Tuve Tuvimos Tuviste ------- Tuvo Tuvieron

“i” group

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense “I” group Hacer Hic- Querer Quis- Venir Vin- 1. Each of these three verbs have a special preterite stem 2. The preterite stems of this group contains the letter i 3. The preterite forms of these have no accent marks. 4. The ending are the same as the “U” group. 5. The third person singular of the preterite of hacer is hizo. The c changes to z to keep the same sound before the –o ending.

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense –I group Querer – To want Venir – To come Hacer – To do, make Hice Hicimos Hiciste --------- Hizo Hicieron Quise Quisimos Quisiste ------- Quiso Quisieron Vine Vinimos Viniste ---------- Vino Vinieron

“J” group

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense “J” group 1. Each of these three verbs has a special preterite stem 2. These have preterite stems that end in J. The ending –ieron becomes –eron. Conducir Conduj- Decir Dij- Traer Traj-

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense –J group Conducir – To lead, drive Decir – To say, tell Traer – To bring Conduje Condujimos Condujiste ------- Condujo Condujeron Dije Dijimos Dijiste ------ Dijo Dijeron Traje Trajimos Trajiste -------- Trajo Trajeron

Verbs with third-person endings -YO and -YERON

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense Ending in –YO and -YERON In this group of verbs, the preterite endings of the third person singular and plural change i to Y. In the endings of the other forms, the i bears an accent mark.

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense endings –YO and -YERON Caer – To Fall Creer – To believe Caí Caímos Caíste ----- Cayó Cayeron Creí Creímos Creíste -------- Creyó Creyeron

Irregular verbs in the preterite tense endings –YO and -YERON Leer – to read Oír – To hear Leí Leímos Leíste ------ Leyó Leyeron Oí Oímos Oíste ----- Oyó Oyeron

Dar, Ser and Ir

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense “DAR, SER and IR” group The preterite endings of DAR are the same for the regular –ER and –IR. The forms of di, dio, fui and fue are not accented. The preterite forms of ir and ser are identical. The meaning of the sentence will indicate which one.

Irregular verbs in the Preterite tense “DAR, SER and IR” group To give Di Dimos Diste ----- Dio Dieron Ser–to be and Ir – to go (same) Fui Fuimos Fuiste ------ Fue Fueron

Stem changers

-ir verbs with stem changes in the preterite -ir verbs that have stem changes in the present tense will also undergo stem changes in the 3rd person forms in the preterite. In these forms, the stem vowel of the infinitive changes as follows: E becomes i Preferir – To prefer (son)reír – to smile, to laugh Other verbs in this group; corregir, divertirse, herir, mentir, pedir, reír (sonreír),repetir, seguir, sentir, servir and vestir. O becomes U Dormir – To sleep Other verbs in this group; morir. Preferí Preferimos Preferiste ---------- Prefirió Prefirieron (son)reí (son)reímos (son)reíste ---------- (son)rió (son)rieron Dormí Dormimos Dormiste -------- Durmió Durmieron

Expressing “Ago” in Spanish Ago is Hace Which is used with the preterite tense: I saw her two hours ago. la vi hace dos horas. Hace dos horas que la vi. They arrived a week ago. Llegaron hace una semana. Hace una semana que llegaron.