Spanish Preterit Tense (El Pretérito)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards for Spanish preterit tense, including regular endings, conjugation examples, uses of the preterit, irregular stem verbs, and fully irregular verbs.

El pretérito (Preterit tense)

A Spanish past tense used to express events that have occurred in the past, generally corresponding to the simple past tense in English.

Steps to conjugate regular preterit verbs

1. Identify the infinitive form of the verb. 2. Drop the -AR, -ER, or -IR ending from the infinitive form. 3. Add the appropriate preterit ending.

-AR verbs preterit endings

Endings added to the stem of regular -AR verbs in the preterit: yo -é, tú -aste, él/ella/usted -ó, nosotros -amos, vosotros -asteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes -aron.

comprar (to buy)

Regular -AR verb; preterit conjugations: compré (I bought), compraste (You bought), compró (He/she/you formal bought), compramos (We bought), comprasteis (You pl. bought), compraron (They/you pl. bought).

-ER/-IR verbs preterit endings

Endings shared by regular -ER and -IR verbs in the preterit: yo -í, tú -iste, él/ella/usted -ió, nosotros -imos, vosotros -isteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes -ieron.

comer (to eat)

Regular -ER verb; preterit conjugations: comí (I ate), comiste (You ate), comió (He/she/you formal ate), comimos (We ate), comisteis (You ate pl.), comieron (They/you pl. ate).

escribir (to write)

Regular -IR verb; preterit conjugations: escribí (I wrote), escribiste (You wrote), escribió (He/she/you formal wrote), escribimos (We wrote), escribisteis (You pl. wrote), escribieron (They/you pl. wrote).

Preterit Use 1: Single completed action

The preterit usually refers to a single completed action or state in the past (e.g., 'Ayer fuimos al cine' - We went to the movies yesterday).

Preterit Use 2: Specific beginning or ending

The preterit can refer specifically to the beginning or the ending of an action (e.g., 'La fiesta comenzó a las siete y media pero no llegamos hasta las ocho').

Preterit Use 3: Repeated action as a single complete unit

The preterit expresses a repeated action in the past when the action is considered a single complete unit (e.g., 'El mes pasado escribí cinco cartas a mi amigo Esteban').

Preterit Use 4: Chain of events

The preterit is used to describe a chain of consecutive events in the past (e.g., 'Llegué a casa, abrí la puerta, entré en la casa, fui a la sala y me senté en el sofá').

Special endings for irregular stem verbs

Preterit endings applied directly to irregular stems regardless of whether the infinitive ends in -AR, -ER, or -IR: yo -e, tú -iste, él/ella/usted -o, nosotros -imos, vosotros -isteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes -ieron.

andar (to go)

Irregular preterit stem: anduv-; conjugations: anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron.

estar (to be)

Irregular preterit stem: estuv-; conjugations: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron.

tener (to have)

Irregular preterit stem: tuv-; conjugations: tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron.

caber (to fit)

Irregular preterit stem: cup-; conjugations: cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron.

saber (to know)

Irregular preterit stem: sup-; conjugations: supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron.

querer (to want or to love)

Irregular preterit stem: quis-; conjugations: quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron.

poner (to put)

Irregular preterit stem: pus-; conjugations: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.

hacer (to make or to do)

Irregular preterit stem: hic-; conjugations: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron (*in the third person singular form, the c changes to a z).

poder (to be able to)

Irregular preterit stem: pud-; conjugations: pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron.

venir (to come)

Irregular preterit stem: vin-; conjugations: vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron.

traer (to bring)

Irregular preterit stem: traj-; conjugations: traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron (**in the third person plural form, the i is dropped from the -ieron ending).

decir (to say)

Irregular preterit stem: dij-; conjugations: dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron (**in the third person plural form, the i is dropped from the -ieron ending).

Irregular stem verbs preterit reference table

Reference table listing Spanish verbs with irregular stems and their complete preterit conjugations.

ser (to be) - preterit

Irregular preterit conjugations: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron (identical to the preterit forms of ir).

ir (to go) - preterit

Irregular preterit conjugations: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron (identical to the preterit forms of ser).

dar (to give) - preterit

Irregular preterit conjugations: di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron.

ver (to see) - preterit

Irregular preterit conjugations: vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron.