The preterite tense (also known as the past historic, the past definite or the past simple) is used to describe single, completed actions in the past or actions which took place over a defined period of time, however long.
For example:
El sábado pasado, visité a mi amiga. Last Saturday, I visited my friend.
Pasaron un año en Madrid. They spent a year in Madrid.
How do we form it?
Unlike for the present tense, there are only two sets of endings which you will need to learn for regular verbs, as -er and -ir verbs share the same set of endings. First of all, you will need to find the stem of the verb by removing either the -ar, -er or -ir (depending on what type of verb it is), and then adding on the following endings:
-ar verb endings: é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron
-er verb endings: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron
-ir verb endings: í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron
Let's put this all together and conjugate some verbs!
Hablar = to talk = hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos*, hablasteis, hablaron
Comer = to eat = comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron
Vivir = to live = viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos*, vivisteis, vivieron
*Note that the 'nosotros' form of -ar and -ir verbs is the same as it is in the present tense. You should be able to work out what tense it is in from context.
Have a go!
Can you conjugate these regular verbs? Mandar (to send), entender (to understand) and decidir (to decide).
What about irregular verbs?
Unfortunately not all verbs follow this pattern, and you will have to learn some irregulars off by heart.
Ser/Ir* = to be/to go = fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Dar = to give = di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron
Ver = to see = vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron
*These two verbs have completely separate meanings, but share exactly the same conjugation in the preterite tense. Again, context should help you work out which verb it is.
The pretérito grave refers to a group of verbs which has its own set of endings, which are added to an irregular stem. These endings are always the same, regardless of verb type (i.e. if its an -ar, -er or -ir verb.)
For example:
Tener = to have = tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
Other verbs which belong to this group:
Estar = to be = estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
Hacer = to do/make = hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
Venir = to come = vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron
Poner = to put = puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
Poder = to be able to = pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
Saber = supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
Querer = to want = quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron
'Decir' follows a similar pattern to this group:
Decir = to say = dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron*
*Note that there is no 'i' in the ending of the ellos/ellas/ustedes form.
Other verbs which take this set of endings include traer (to bring), conducir (to drive) and producir (to produce).
What about stem-changing verbs?
Stem-changing -ir verbs have a spelling change in the third person singular and plural forms only. However, the endings are still regular. For example:
Preferir = to prefer = preferí, preferiste, prefirió, preferimos, preferisteis, prefirieron*
Dormir = to sleep = dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron*
Pedir = to ask for = pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
*Note that in the present tense, the stem of preferir changes from e > ie, but in the preterite it just changes from e > i. Also, the stem of dormir in the present tense changes from o > ue, whereas in the preterite it changes from o > u.
Are there any other irregularities?
-er and -ir verbs whose stem ends in a vowel follow this pattern:
Creer = to believe = creí, creíste, creyó, creímos, creísteis, creyeron
Other verbs which follow this pattern include leer (to read), caer (to fall), construir (to build) and oír (to hear).
-car verbs need a spelling change in the yo form of the preterite:
Buscar = to look for = busqué, buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron
Other verbs which follow this pattern include explicar (to explain), pescar (to fish), sacar (to take out) and tocar (to touch).
-gar verbs need a spelling change in the yo form of the preterite:
Llegar = to arrive = llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron
Other verbs which follow this patter include pagar (to pay) and entregar (to bring).
-zar verbs need a spelling change in the yo form of the preterite:
Empezar = to start = empecé, empezaste, empezó, empezamos, empezasteis, empezaron
Other verbs which follow this pattern include cruzar (to cross), rezar (to pray), lanzar (to launch), realizar (to carry out) and alcanzar (to reach/achieve).
Example sentences with verbs in the preterite tense:
Can you translate any?
El tren salió a las seis.
La semana pasada los niños comieron bocadillos de jamón.
(Yo) no entendí nada.
Decidimos ir a España porque hace mucho sol allí.
Hace una hora encontramos a mi amigo en la playa.
El año pasado fui a Barcelona.
¿Viste lo que pasó en Francia?
Mis padres quisieron tener una fiesta.
Empecé a hacer mis deberes.
Vosotros dijisteis nada antes de salir.
What phrases introduce the use of the preterite?
Ayer noche = last night
Hace unos días = a few days ago
El fin de semana pasado = last weekend
La semana pasada = last week
El mes pasado = last month
El año pasado = last year
Hace dos años = two years ago
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