The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is used to describe completed actions in the past. Learn to conjugate regular -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in the past tense.
To conjugate regular -AR verbs, remove the -ar and add these endings:
| yo | -é → hablé (I spoke) |
| tú | -aste → hablaste (you spoke) |
| él/ella/usted | -ó → habló (he/she spoke) |
| nosotros | -amos → hablamos (we spoke) |
| ellos/ellas | -aron → hablaron (they spoke) |
Note: -AR verbs have the same "nosotros" form in present and preterite!
Regular -ER and -IR verbs share the same endings in the preterite:
| yo | -í → comí, viví (I ate, I lived) |
| tú | -iste → comiste, viviste (you ate, you lived) |
| él/ella/usted | -ió → comió, vivió (he ate, he lived) |
| nosotros | -imos → comimos, vivimos (we ate, we lived) |
| ellos/ellas | -ieron → comieron, vivieron (they ate, they lived) |
Use the preterite to talk about completed actions in the past:
Ayer hablé con mi profesor. = Yesterday I spoke with my teacher.
¿Qué comiste anoche? = What did you eat last night?
Ellos vivieron en Madrid por cinco años. = They lived in Madrid for five years.
Trabajé todo el día. = I worked all day.
Use these time markers to show past actions:
Hace una semana viajé a París. = I traveled to Paris a week ago.
El mes pasado estudiamos este tema. = Last month we studied this topic.
Try these conjugations:
Yo (hablar) ayer. → hablé
Ellos (comer) toda la pizza. → comieron
Tú (escribir) una carta. → escribiste
Nosotros (vivir) en ese pueblo. → vivimos
Traps for English speakers
These are the errors English speakers make most often.