Spanish Regular Verbs – Present Tense

Spanish BCCC Tutoring Center Rev. 7/2015

Spanish Verbs – Past Tense

El pretérito

Regular

 The preterit tense is used to express events that have occurred in the past. It generally corresponds to

the simple past tense in English.

 Steps to conjugate regular -AR, -ER, or -IR verbs in the preterit tense:

1. Identify the infinitive form of the verb.

2. Drop the –AR, -ER, or –IR ending from the infinitive form of the verb.

3. Add the appropriate ending.

-AR verbs

yo -é

tú -aste

él/ella/

usted -ó

nosotros -amos

vosotros -asteis

ellos/ellas/

ustedes -aron

comprar –

to buy

yo compré –

I bought

tú compraste –

You bought

él/ella/usted compró –

He/she/you (formal) bought

nosotros compramos –

We bought

vosotros comprasteis –

You (pl.) bought

ellos/ellas/ustedes compraron –

They/you (pl.)

bought

 -ER and –IR verbs have the same conjugation endings in the preterit tense.

-ER/-IR verbs

yo -í

tú -iste

él/ella/

usted -ió

nosotros -imos

vosotros -isteis

ellos/ellas/

ustedes -ieron

comer –

to eat

yo comí –

I ate

tú comiste –

You ate

él/ella/usted comió –

He/she/you (formal) ate

nosotros comimos –

We ate

vosotros comisteis –

You ate

(pl.)

ellos/ellas/ustedes comieron –

They/you (pl.) ate

escribir –

to write

yo escribí –

I wrote

tú escribiste –

You wrote

él/ella/usted escribió –

He/she/you (formal)

wrote

nosotros escribimos –

We

wrote

vosotros escribisteis –

You (pl

.)

wrote

ellos/ellas/ustedes escribieron –

They/you (pl.)

wrote

Spanish BCCC Tutoring Center Rev. 7/2015

Usos del pretérito

1. The preterit usually refers to a single completed action or state in the past.



Ayer fuimos al cine.

We went to the movies yesterday.



Mi padre leyó el periódico esta mañana.

My father read the newspaper this morning.

2. The preterit can be specific and refer to the beginning or the ending of an action.



La fiesta comenzó a las siete y media pero no llegamos hasta las ocho.

The party began at seven thirty but we didn’t arrive until eight.

3. The only time the preterit is used to express a repeated action in the past is when the action is

considered a single complete unit.



El mes pasado escribí cinco cartas a mi amigo Esteban.

Last month I wrote five letters to my friend Esteban.



La semana pasada mi hermana fue al gimnasio tres veces.

Last week my sister went to the gym three times.

4. The preterit is also used to describe a chain of events in the past.



Llegué a casa, abrí la puerta, entré en la casa, fui a la sala y me senté en el sofá.

I arrived home, opened the door, entered the house, went to the living room and sat on

the sofa.

Spanish BCCC Tutoring Center Rev. 7/2015

Irregular

 In the preterit tense some very common verbs have an irregular stem.

o All of these verbs, whether –AR, -ER or –IR, use the same set of conjugation endings.

Special endings for irregular stem verbs in the preterit

yo -e

tú -iste

él/ella/

usted -o

nosotros -imos

vosotros -isteis

ellos/ellas/

ustedes -ieron

 In order to form irregular stem verbs in the preterit, the irregular stem must be memorized.

o The special endings for the verbs are added directly to the irregular stem of the verb.

Verb

Irregular Stem

Conjugations

andar –

to go

anduv-

anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos,

anduvisteis, anduvieron

estar –

to be

estuv-

estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos,

estuvisteis, estuvieron

tener –

to have

tuv-

tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

caber –

to fit

cup-

cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis,

cupieron

saber –

to know

sup-

supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis,

supieron

querer –

to want or to love

quis-

quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis,

quisieron

poner –

to put

pus-

puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis,

pusieron

*hacer –

to make or to do

hic-

hice, huiste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

poder –

to be able to

pud-

pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis,

pudieron

venir –

to come

vin-

vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron

**traer –

to bring

traj-

traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron

**decir –

to say

dij-

dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron

*In the third person singular form of the verb hacer, the c changes to a z.

**In the third person plural forms of

traer

and

decir

the i is dropped from the ieron ending.

Spanish BCCC Tutoring Center Rev. 7/2015

 In the preterit two of the most important verbs,

ser

and

ir,

are irregular.

o The conjugations of these verbs are exactly the same.

ser –

to be

fui

fuiste

fue

fuimos

fuisteis

fueron

ir –

to go

fui

fuiste

fue

fuimos

fuisteis

fueron



El examen de español fue muy difícil.

The Spanish exam was really difficult.



Ayer fui al supermercado.

I went to the supermarket yesterday.

 The verbs

dar

and

ver

are both irregular in the preterit tense and conjugate in a similar way.

dar –

to give

di

diste

dio

dimos

disteis

dieron

ver –

to see

vi

viste

vio

vimos

visteis

vieron



Ayer le di un regalo a Juanita.

Yesterday I gave a gift to Juanita.



Después de clase, los estudiantes vieron su maestro en la cafetería.

After class, the students saw their teacher in the cafeteria.