El Pretérito
(The Simple Past Tense)
Una Guía Completa para los Verbos Regulares
por
Marnie Robey, LCHS
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¿Qué es el pretérito?
- a verb tense that indicates an action in
the past without reference to duration,
continuance or repetition
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Examples in English
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Contínue…
Examples in English
I did my homework.
Sally walked the dog.
We ate dinner.
Did you clean your room?
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Recuerde usted – there are
THREE kinds of verbs in
Spanish…
-ar
-er
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-ir
Each kind of verb has its own
conjugations, rules and regular and
irregular forms.
Where do you want to start?
-ar
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-er
-ir
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-ar verbs
(Any verb that ends in –ar)
There are 3 sets of rules for REGULAR
–ar verbs.
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Rule #1 – The Endings
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Rule #2 – Stem Changes
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Rule #3 – Spelling Changes
-er verbs
(Any verb that ends in –ir)
There are 2 sets of rules for REGULAR
–er verbs.
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Rule #1 – The Endings
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Rule #2 – Stem Changes
-ir verbs
(Any verb that ends in –ir)
There are 2 sets of rules for REGULAR
–ir verbs.
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Rule #1 – The Endings
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Rule #2 – Stem Changes
-ar verbs
Rule #1 - Las Terminaciones
Yo
-é
Nosotros
-amos
Tú
-aste
Vosotros
-asteis
Él
Ella
Usted
Ellos
-ó
Ellas
Ustedes
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-aron
-ar verbs
Rule #2 – Stem Changes
This is your lucky day!
You do NOT stem change –ar
verbs in the preterite tense. Look
at the difference between the
present and preterite tenses of
the verb
despertarse.
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-ar verbs
Rule #3 – Spelling Changes
For certain verbs, we have to change the spelling
in order to preserve the sound of the infinitive (the
non-conjugated verb). Those verbs end in…
-car
-gar
-zar
(tocar, practicar…)
(pagar, jugar…)
(almorzar, comenzar…)
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-ar verbs
Practice Example
Conjugate esquiar = to ski
Yo
Tú
Él
Ella
Usted
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos
Ellas
Ustedes
esquié
esquiaste
esquió
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esquiamos
esquiasteis
esquiaron
-ar verbs
Compare present and preterite
El Presente
El Pretérito
Me despierto
nos despertamos
Me desperté
nos despertamos
Te despiertas
os despertáis
Te despertaste
os despertasteis
Se despierta
se despiertan
Se despertó
se despertaron
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-ar verbs
Spelling Changes
The change occurs ONLY in the first
person singular form – the “yo”.
-car
-gar
-zar
-qu
-gu
-c
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-ar verbs
Examples of spelling changes
-car
-gar
toqué
jugué
almorcé
practiqué
llegué
empecé
saqué
pagué
comencé
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-zar
-ar verbs
Now! Let’s see what you
learned about –ar verbs
in the preterite…
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-ar verbs
Quiz yourself – on a scrap piece of
paper, write the correct forms of
the following verbs.
1. hablar – yo
2. cantar – tú
3. comenzar – yo
4. acostarse – ellos
5. probarse - Juan
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Let’s move on to
–er verbs.
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-er verbs
Rule #1 – Las Terminaciones
Yo
-í
Nosotros
-imos
Tú
-iste
Vosotros
-isteis
-ió
Ellos
Ellas
Ustedes
-ieron
Él
Ella
Usted
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-er verbs
Rule #2 – Stem Changes
Happy Days!!
You do not have to stem
change REGULAR –er verbs
in the preterite tense.
Look at another comparison…
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-er verbs
Practice example
Conjugate comer = to eat
Yo
comí
Tú
comiste
Él
comió
Ella
Usted
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos
Ellas
Ustedes
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comimos
comisteis
comieron
-er verbs
Compare present and preterite
El Presente
El Pretérito
entiendo
entendemos
entendí
entendimos
entiendes
entendéis
entendiste
entendisteis
entiende
entienden
entendió
entendieron
Now – let’s see what you learned…
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-er verbs
Quiz yourself – on a scrap piece of
paper, write the correct forms of
the following verbs.
1. beber, yo
2. comprender, tú
3. entender, ellos
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Let’s move on to
–ir verbs.
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-ir verbs
Rule #1 – Las Terminaciones
THEY ARE THE SAME AS –ER!!
Yo
-í
Nosotros
-imos
Tú
-iste
Vosotros
-isteis
-ió
Ellos
Ellas
Ustedes
-ieron
Él
Ella
Usted
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See an example
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Move on
-ir verbs
Rule #2 – Stem Changes
-ir verbs are a little more complicados. If a verb is a
stem changing verb in the present tense, then it is
a stem changing verb in the preterite. Referring
back to our “shoe” analogy – the verb becomes a
SOLE verb in the preterite.
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I need more explanation.
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I understand, move on.
-ir verbs
Practice Example
Conjugate vivir = to live
Yo
Tú
Él
Ella
Usted
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos
Ellas
Ustedes
viví
viviste
vivió
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vivimos
vivisteis
vivieron
-ir verbs
Let’s compare shoes…
El Presente
El Pretérito
yo
nosotros
yo
nosotros
tú
vosotros
tú
vosotros
ell, ella,
usted
ellos, ellas
ustedes
él, ella,
usted
ellos, ellas
ustedes
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-ir verbs
Stem Changes…continued
In the SOLE or the third
person forms, the following
changes occur…
e
i
o
u
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-ir verbs
Look at SOLE verbs in action
preferir – to prefer
morir – to die
preferí
preferimos
morí
morimos
preferiste
preferisteis
moriste
moristeis
prefirió
prefirieron
murió
murieron
Now – let’s see what you learned…
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-ir verbs
Quiz yourself – on a scrap piece of
paper, write the correct forms of
the following verbs.
1. dormir, ella
2. competir, yo
3. vivir, él
4. salir, ellos
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Y ahora, vamos a
hacer una prueba…
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¿Cuánto recuerdas del
pretérito?
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Choose the correct form of the
verb in the preterite tense. If
you need help, select HINT.
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Re-read tutorial
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Begin
Nosotros (alquilar) un barco
por todo el día.
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alquilamos
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alquilemos
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HINT
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Lo siento, trátala otra vez.
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Este mañana, yo (despertarse)
a las seis.
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Me desperté
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Me despierté
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HINT
HINT CARD
Do NOT stem change
–ar verbs in the
preterite tense!!!!
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HINT CARD
Las terminaciones:
-é
-amos
-aste
-asteis
-ó
-aron
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Lo siento, trátala otra vez.
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Yo (buscar) el perro en el
parque.
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bucé
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busqué
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HINT
Remember, -car verbs have
a spelling change in the
“yo” form!
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Let’s move on to –er
verbs!
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HINT CARD
-car, -gar and –zar verbs
have a spelling change
in the “yo” form!
c to qu
g to gu
z to c
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Ellos (aprender) la lección
del pretérito.
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aprenderon
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aprendieron
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HINT
Recuerda las terminaciones!
í, iste, ió, imos isteis, ieron
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HINT CARD
-er endings
í
imos
iste
isteis
ió
ieron
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Vosotros (entender) la
maestra.
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entendisteis
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entiendisteis
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HINT
Time to move on to –ir
verbs!
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Trátala otra vez.
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HINT CARD
Regular –er verbs DO
NOT stem change in the
preterite tense!!
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Tú (vivir) cerca de tu abuela.
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viviste
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vivaste
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HINT
más practica
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Trátala otra vez.
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HINT CARD
Recuerda –er and –ir
verbs share the same
endings in the preterite
tense!
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Ellos (preferir) Del Río más
que la Casa Gonzales.
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prefirieron
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preferieron
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HINT
Great! You remembered
that –ir shoe verbs are
sole verbs in the preterite!
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Remember SOLE verbs?
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HINT CARD
Stem changing –ir verbs
in the present tense,
become SOLE verbs in
the preterite. The
bottom two forms
change e to i and o to u.
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El gato (morirse) anoche.
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se morió
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se murió
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HINT
SOLE verb!
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Felicitaciones! You
finished the quiz. On to
the next challenge!
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HINT CARD
Stem changing –ir verbs
in the present tense,
become SOLE verbs in
the preterite. The
bottom two forms
change e to i and o to u.
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Excelente, estudiante. You are
almost halfway through learning
about the preterite tense! Don’t get
discouraged – it is one of the more
difficult tenses to master.
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If you feel ready for the next challenge…
Need more review?
The Challenge
Step #1
Define the following verbs on a separate piece of paper.
anunciar
escoger
beber
encontrar
probarse
vestirse
gastar
ver
recibir
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The Challenge
Step #2
Write an original story in the preterite tense. Please
write it in the form of an email letter to la Señora Robey.
You must use all 9 verbs you defined.
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El correo electrónico:
mrobey@penk12.va.us
(When you send email – hit the back button to return to this tutorial.)
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FELICITACIONES
You did it! Hope
you had fun and
learned something
new at the same
time!
Start Over
-ar verbs
How did you do?
1. hablé
2. cantaste
3. comencé
4. se acostaron
5. se probó
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-er verbs
How did you do?
1. bebí
2. comprendiste
3. entendieron
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-ir verbs
How did you do?
1. durmió
2. competí
3. vivió
4. salieron
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