Understanding the Preterite Tense in Spanish

Preterite tense

One of 2 past tenses in Spanish

Preterite tense usage

Used to express an action that began and ended at a specific time in the past

Ayer

yesterday

Anteayer

day before yesterday

Anoche

last night

La semana pasada

last week

El mes pasado

last month

El año pasado

last year

Regular -AR verb endings in preterite

Yo - é, Tú - aste, él/ella/usted - ó, Nosotros - amos, Vosotros - asteis, ellos/ellas - aron

Regular ER/IR verb endings in preterite

Yo - í, Tú - iste, él/ella/usted - ió, Nosotros - imos, Vosotros - isteis, ellos/ellas - ieron

Example of hablar in preterite

Yo hablé

Example of beber in preterite

Nosotros bebimos

Example of vivir in preterite

Rita vivió

Example of comer in preterite

Ellos comieron

Example of pagar in preterite

Vosotros pagasteis

Example of pasar in preterite

Tú pasaste

Importance of accent marks

Accent marks can completely change the tense of the verb

Example of hablo vs habló

hablo → I speak; habló → He/she spoke