PAST TENSE  El Pretérito
El Pretérito:
actions happened in the past (“-ed”)
 Describes a completed past action\
 Triggers: ayer, anoche, la semana
pasada, etc.

1. REGULAR VERBS
Verbs ending in - AR

Pretérito endings for ar verbs are:
-é
- amos
- aste
- asteis
-ó
- aron
Pretérito endings for –ER / -IR verbs
are:
-í
- imos
- iste
- isteis
- ió
- ieron
-CAR

If a verb ends in –CAR, we still use the
regular –AR ending, but the stem will
change in the YO form
Drop the –car and add -qué
 Practicar  Yo practiqué
- GAR
Drop the –gar and add gué
 JUGAR  Yo jugué

- ZAR
Drop the –zar and add -cé
 ALMORZAR  Yo almorcé
For verbs that end in a vowel after you drop the
temination ER, IR.:
aer – caer – to fall
eer – leer = to read;
creer = to think / believe
oir = to hear
uir – to flee - huir
The third person singular form (él, ella, usted)
uses the ending yó
(rather than ió).
The third person plural (ellos,
ellas, ustedes) uses the ending
yeron (rather than ieron).
The remaining forms gain a
written accent over the letter “i”.
For example: leer- to read
Yo
Tú
Él, Ella, Ud.
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos, Ellas, Uds.
leí
leíste
leyó
leímos
leísteis
leyeron
Verbs that end in -uir change in the same way, but the
written accent over the letter "i" only occurs in the
yo form.
For example: construir- to construct
Yo
Tú
Él, Ella, Usted
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes
construí
construiste
construyó
construimos
construisteis
construyeron
You will need to know the following Spelling-Change Verbs:
caer
creer
leer
oír
construir
incluir
influir
(to fall)
(to think/believe)
(to read)
(to hear)
(to construct)
(to include)
(to influence)
The only verbs that have a stem change in the preterite tense are
those which meet the following three requirements:
1. The infinitive of the verb ends in –ir.
2. The verb was a stem-changing verb in the present
tense.
3. It does NOT fall into one of the other categories of verbs in
preterite: regular, car/gar/zar, completely irregular,
* -ar and –er verbs that changed stems in the present tense do
NOT change stems in the preterite- they are conjugated like all
other regular preterite verbs
In preterite, there are two types of stem changes:
1. If the stem contains an e, it changes to an i (
E to I )
sentir > sintió
2. If the stem contains an o, it changes to a u
dormir > durmió
( O to U )
In preterite, the
stem only changes in two forms:
1. Third Person Singular (
él, ella, usted)
2. Third Person Plural (ellos,
ellas, ustedes)
Some examples:
E to I
O to U
REPETIR - (to repeat) DORMIR- (to sleep)
yo
repetí
dormí
tú
repetiste
dormiste
él, ella, usted
repitió
durmió
Nosotros
repetimos
dormimos
vosotros
repetisteis
dormisteis
ellos, ellas,
ustedes
repitieron
durmieron
You will need to know the following E
Competir- to compete
Conseguir- to get, to obtain
Repetir- to repeat
Divertirse- to have fun,
to enjoy oneself
Pedir- to request, to ask for
Freir – to fry
Despedirse – to say good bye
Despedir – to dismiss, to get fired
You will need to know the following O
Dormir- to sleep
Dormirse – to fall asleep
to I verbs:
Requerir- to require, to need
Seguir- to follow, to continue,
to pursue
Preferir- to prefer
Sentirse- to feel
Servir- to serve
Vestirse- to dress oneself
Reir – to laugh
Sonreir – to smile
to U verbs:
Morir- to die
Verbs whose stem change in:
V stems
 To walk - Andar  stem: anduv To be - Estar  stem: estuv To have - Tener  stem: tuv To obtain – Obtener  stem: obtuv
U stems
 To be able/ allowed to Poder  stem: pud To know - Saber  stem: sup To put, place - Poner  stem: pus -
J stems:
 To say, tell - Decir  stem: Dij –
 To bring - Traer  stem: traj To attract - Atraer stem: atraj –
 To translate - Traducir  stem: traduj To produce - Producir  stem: produj To drive - Conducir  stem: condujI stems:
 To want - Querer  stem: Quis To come - Venir  stem: Vin-
For the “VUI” you need to add the following
endings after changing the stem
-e
- imos
- iste
- isteis
-o
- ieron
If the stem ends in “J” you need to
add the following endings after
changing the stem
-e
- imos
- iste
- isteis
-o
- eron
SER / IR
fui
fuimos
fuiste
fuisteis
fue
fueron
HACER
hice
hicimos
hiciste
hicisteis
hizo
hicieron
VER
vi
vimos
viste
visteis
vio
vieron
DAR
di
dimos
diste
disteis
dio
dieron