Jaime study guide
El Pretérito AR verbs
The preterite tense in Spanish is used to talk about actions completed at a specific point in the past.
AR verbs are conjugated by removing the -ar ending and adding the following endings:
Yo: é
Tú: aste
Él/Ella/Usted: ó
Nosotros: amos
Vosotros: asteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: aron
Examples:
Hablar (to talk):
Yo hablé con mi amiga ayer. (I talked to my friend yesterday.)
Ellos hablaron en clase. (They talked in class.)
Estudiar (to study):
Tú estudiaste mucho para el examen. (You studied a lot for the exam.)
Nosotros estudiamos para la prueba. (We studied for the quiz.)
El Pretérito ER-IR verbs
For ER and IR verbs, the endings are the same. Remove the -er or -ir and add the following endings:
Yo: í
Tú: iste
Él/Ella/Usted: ió
Nosotros: imos
Vosotros: isteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: ieron
Examples:
Comer (to eat):
Yo comí pizza ayer. (I ate pizza yesterday.)
Ellos comieron en un restaurante. (They ate at a restaurant.)
Vivir (to live):
Tú viviste en México el año pasado. (You lived in Mexico last year.)
Nosotros vivimos en una casa grande. (We lived in a big house.)
El Preterito Irregular verbs
Some verbs are irregular in the preterite and don’t follow the standard conjugation patterns. Common irregular verbs include ir, ser, hacer, tener, estar, decir, venir, etc.
Irregular verb endings for yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, and ellos/ellas/ustedes are generally the same for all irregular verbs in the preterite tense.
Yo: e
Tú: iste
Él/Ella/Usted: o
Nosotros: imos
Vosotros: isteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: ieron
Examples:
Ir (to go) / Ser (to be):
Yo fui al cine ayer. (I went to the cinema yesterday.)
Ellos fueron a la playa. (They went to the beach.)
Tener (to have):
Tú tuviste una fiesta. (You had a party.)
Nosotros tuvimos hambre después del partido. (We were hungry after the game.)
El Imperfecto AR verbs
The imperfect tense is used to talk about actions that were habitual or ongoing in the past or to set the scene.
AR verbs are conjugated by removing the -ar ending and adding the following endings:
Yo: aba
Tú: abas
Él/Ella/Usted: aba
Nosotros: ábamos
Vosotros: abais
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: aban
Examples:
Hablar (to talk):
Cuando era niño, yo hablaba mucho. (When I was a child, I talked a lot.)
Nosotros hablábamos durante la cena. (We used to talk during dinner.)
Estudiar (to study):
Tú estudiabas todos los días. (You studied every day.)
Ellos estudiaban en la biblioteca. (They were studying in the library.)
El Imperfecto ER-IR verbs
For ER and IR verbs in the imperfect, the endings are:
Yo: ía
Tú: ías
Él/Ella/Usted: ía
Nosotros: íamos
Vosotros: íais
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: ían
Examples:
Comer (to eat):
Yo comía pizza todas las semanas. (I used to eat pizza every week.)
Ellos comían en casa. (They were eating at home.)
Vivir (to live):
Tú vivías en España. (You lived in Spain.)
Nosotros vivíamos cerca de la escuela. (We lived near the school.)
El Imperfecto Irregular verbs
There are three main irregular verbs in the imperfect: ir, ser, and ver.
Ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
Ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
Ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
Examples:
Ir (to go):
Yo iba a la escuela todos los días. (I used to go to school every day.)
Ellos iban al parque cada fin de semana. (They used to go to the park every weekend.)
Ser (to be):
Tú eras mi mejor amigo. (You were my best friend.)
Nosotros éramos felices. (We were happy.)
El Tiempo/The Weather
Weather expressions in Spanish often use the verb hacer or estar:
Hace: used for general weather expressions.
Hace frío. (It's cold.)
Hace calor. (It's hot.)
Está: used when describing specific weather at a particular moment.
Está lloviendo. (It’s raining.)
Está nublado. (It’s cloudy.)
Examples:
Hace (used for general weather):
Hace frío en el invierno. (It’s cold in the winter.)
Hace sol hoy. (It’s sunny today.)
Está (used for specific weather):
Está nevando en las montañas. (It’s snowing in the mountains.)
Está lloviendo mucho. (It’s raining a lot.)
El Cuerpo/The Body
Common body parts and verbs used to talk about health and physical actions.
La cabeza (head)
El brazo (arm)
La pierna (leg)
La mano (hand)
El ojo (eye)
El corazón (heart)
Dolor (pain) is often used to describe aches or injuries.
Me duele la cabeza. (My head hurts.)
Me duelen las piernas. (My legs hurt.)
Examples:
La cabeza (head):
Me duele la cabeza. (My head hurts.)
El doctor examinó mi cabeza. (The doctor examined my head.)
La mano (hand):
Me duelen las manos después de escribir. (My hands hurt after writing.)
Ella se cortó la mano. (She cut her hand.)