Preterite tense of regular verbs

Preterite tense of regular verbs

​to talk about the past, Spanish uses TWO simple tenses:

​

1. The Preterite

2. The Imperfect​

​

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the PRETERITE TENSE.​

​The Preterite is used to EXPRESS ACTIONS OR STATES COMPLETED IN THE PAST.

Multiple Choice

There are two past tenses in Spanish?

• Cierto

• Falso

Multiple Choice

Which of the two past tenses will we cover today?

• Imperfect

• Preterite

• Present

• Progressive

Multiple Choice

The preterite is used to express:

• something I am currently doing

• some continuing action in the past

• to describe what was in progress in the past

• to describe a completed action in the past

​Preterite endings of Regular Verbs:

​-é	​-amos
​-aste	​X
​-ó	​-aron

​-ar verb endings

​Preterite endings of Regular Verbs:

​-í	​-imos
​-iste	​X
​-ió	​-ieron

​-er & -ir verb endings

​Atención

​

The Yo and the él/ella/Ud. forms of all three conjugations have written accents on the last syllable to show that it is stressed!​

​-er and -ir verbs:

​

have identical endings in the preterite

​Nosotros/as forms of regular -ar and -ir verbs in the preterite:

​

are identical to the present tense forms. Context clues will help you determine the tense being used.

​Stem-changing -ar and -er verbs in the present tense,

DO NOT STEM CHANGE IN THE PRETERITE!!

Multiple Choice

-AR / -ER / AND -IR VERBS IN THE NOSOTROS FORM ARE THE SAME IN BOTH THE PRESENT AND PRETERITE TENSES

• CIERTO

• FALSO

Multiple Choice

-AR AND -IR VERBS IN THE NOSOTROS FORM are the same in both the present and preterite tenses.

• CIERTO

• FALSO

Multiple Choice

-ar and -er verbs that stem change in the present also stem change in the preterite

• Cierto

• Falso

Multiple Choice

Present tense of

Yo (cerrar)

• cerro

• cierro

• cierré

• cerré

Multiple Choice

Preterite tense of

Yo (cerrar)

• cerro

• cierro

• cierré

• cerré

Multiple Choice

Present tense of

Carlitos (volver)

• vuelve

• volve

• volvió

• vuelvió

Multiple Choice

Preterite tense of

Carlitos (volver)

• vuelve

• volve

• volvió

• vuelvió

​-Car / -Gar / -Zar ending verbs have spelling changes:

​

In the yo form only!!!​

​

-car --> the C changes to qu yo busqué

-gar --> the G changes to gu yo llegué

-zar --> the Z changes to c yo empecé​

Multiple Choice

-car ending verbs, the c changes to:

• gu

• cu

• qu

• c

Multiple Choice

-gar ending verbs, the g changes to:

• gu

• cu

• qu

• c

Multiple Choice

-zar ending verbs, the z changes to:

• gu

• cu

• qu

• c

​Creer, Leer, Oír

​creí	creímos​
creíste​	X​
​creyó	creyeron​

​leí	l​eímos
​leíste	​X
​leyó	leyeron​

​oí	​oímos
​oíste	​X
​oyó	​oyeron

​Note the accents and the "y" spelling change.

​Creer: to think/believe

​Leer: to read

​Oír: to hear

​Ver is regular in the preterite, but has NO ACCENTS!

​Ver: to watch/see

​vi	vimos​
​viste	​X
​vio	​vieron

​Common words and phrases used with the preterite

​Acabar de + infinitive

​is used to say that something just occurred.

​NOTE: acabar is in the present tense in this construction!!!!

​Acabo de comprar una falda.
I just bought a skirt.

Multiple Choice

Meaning of the word in bold and underlined.

Anoche oí música en el estadió.

• last night

• at night

• yesterday

• tomorrow

Multiple Choice

Meaning of the word in bold and underlined.

Ayer llegué a Santiago de Cuba.

• today

• the day before yesterday

• yesterday

• tomorrow