PRETERITE NOTES
Partes 1, 2, y 3
el pretérito = past tense. The preterite is used to
express a completed action in the past.
1. REGULAR VERBS in the PRETERITE
AR
ER/IR
é
amos
aste asteis
ó
aron
í
iste
ió
imos
isteis
ieron
3. DOUBLE-VOWEL VERBS IN THE PRETERITE
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•
•
•
leer - to read
oír - to hear
creer - to believe
caer - to fall
These verbs have a spell change
in the Ud. and Uds. forms.
They also take accents everywhere except Uds..
How to conjugate regular verbs in the preterite.
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•
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Why do they need accents?
1. Cut off the infinitive ending. (Hayah!!)
Strong vowels vs. Weak vowels
2. Write the stem.
A, O, U
son vocales fuertes
3. Add the new endings.
Past tense vocabulary: MEMORIZE!
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
e, i
son vocales débiles
había = there was, there were
ayer = yesterday
anoche = last night
ayer por la tarde = yesterday afternoon
•
leer - to read
•
oír - to hear
•
creer - to believe
•
caer - to fall
ayer por la mañana =yesterday morning
el año pasado = last year
la semana pasada = last week
el día anteayer = the day before yesterday
2. SPELL-CHANGING VERBS IN THE
PRETERITE
Verbs that end with ‘ZAR’, ‘CAR’ and ‘GAR’
have a spell change in the YO form only.
•
empezar – to begin Z
C
•
tocar – to touch
pagar – to pay
C
Hey! What if you’re trying to say that
a person fell down?
Just add reflexive pronouns!
QU
G + U
Es muy fácil
me
nos
te
os
se
se