Eric’s guide to tenses (part two) - Past or Preterit tense:


Eric’s guide to tenses (part two) - Past or Preterit tense:

The preterit tense is used to express an action that was completed in the past. Por ejemplo:

  1. Mi padre llegó ayer (my father arrived yesterday)

  2. María fue a la iglesia esta mañana (Maria went to church this morning)

  3. ¿Qué pasó? What happened?

  4. Tomé el desayuno a las siete. I had breakfast at seven o’clock.

  5. Salí de casa, tomé el autobús y llegué a la escuela as las ocho. I left the house, took the bus and arrived at school at eight o’clock.

To form the preterit in an -ar verb, take the stem and add these endings:

Por ejemplo hablar (to speak): habl+

Yo hablé                       Tu hablaste                  Él, ella, usted habló
Nos hablamos               Vos hablasteis              Ellos, ellas, ustedes hablaron

To form the preterit in -er verbs or -ir verbs, take the stem and add these endings:

Por ejemplo beber (significa to drink) y recibir (significa to receive): beb+ y recib+

Yo bebí                         Tu bebiste                    Él, ella, usted bebió
Nos bebimos                 Vos bebisteis                Ellos, ellas, ustedes bebieron

Yo recibí                      Tu recibiste                 Él, ella, usted recibió
Nos recibimos              Vos recibisteis             Ellos, ellas, ustedes recibieron

Let’s look at three common irregular verbs:

Estar (significa to be)

Yo estuve                      Tu estuviste                 Él, ella, usted estuvo
Nos estuvimos              Vos estuvisteis             Ellos, ellas, ustedes estuvieron

Ser (significa to be)

Yo fui                           Tu fuiste                      Él, ella, usted fue
Nos fuimos                   Vos fuisteis                  Ellos, ellas, ustedes fueron

Ir (significa to go)

Yo fui                           Tu fuiste                      Él, ella, usted fue
Nos fuimos                   Vos fuisteis                  Ellos, ellas, ustedes fueron

Yes, Ir and Ser are the same in the preterit tense, which is useful, but also confusing.

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