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Ready to delve into the past with the Preterite Tense? Well, if you are, then you must be getting pretty confident with some of the other tenses and you are ready for a new challenge.

You’ll certainly find it with the Preterite Tense, because unlike the Imperfect Tense (another Past tense), this one has more irregulars to get your head around. However, don’t let that put you off.

The Preterite tense is probably one of the tenses that you’ll use most on a day-to-day basis, because we tend to talk about what we did in the past quite a lot… especially when saying where we went at the weekend and what we did last night etc.

It’s probably best to deal with the regular verbs first, and then once you have gained confidence using these, take a look at the Irregular verbs in the Preterite Tense. Let’s go for it…

When and how to use the Preterite Tense:

We use the Preterite (AKA the Simple Past) to say what you did or what happened… It is a single, finished action. It’s done and dusted, not something that was ongoing. Some people even call it the DOT Past because it’s a bit like the action has left just a dot in history.

For example:

• He cooked the dinner.
• I ate breakfast.
• We saw a shooting star.

This is quite different to how we use the Imperfect Tense because that tense is used to talk about ongoing actions… basically what you were doing, and for setting the scene and describing what was happening.

It can be quite tricky to get to grips with when to use the Preterite Tense, so for now I’d say work on learning how to conjugate the Preterite Tense and become familiar with the examples provided. This will give you a good basis and you’ll know when to use the Preterite Tense 90% of the time.

Then, for that final 10%, take a look my Imperfect VS Preterite blog, as this will iron out any final uncertainties and help you feel confident that you are using the Preterite Tense in the right situations.  

Here’s how to form The Preterite Tense:

1. Take the infinitive (Hablar)
2. Remove the last two letters to leave the ‘stem’ (Habl__)
3. Add the new ending (Hablé) and if you like, you can add the optional pronoun ‘yo’ to the front (yo hablé= I spoke)

Here are all the formations of the REGULAR ‘-AR’ verbs in the Preterite tense:

Hablar	To speak
(yo) hablé	I spoke
(tú) hablaste	You spoke
(él/ella/usted) habló	He/she/it spoke & You (polite) spoke
(nosotros/as) hablamos *	We spoke
(vosotros/as) hablasteis	You all spoke
(ellos/ellas/ustedes) hablaron	They spoke & You all (polite) spoke

*You’ll notice that the ‘Nosotros/as’ formation is the same in the Preterite Tense as it is in the Present Tense. Therefore, you’ll need to think about any time phrases used alongside the verb to help you understand whether the person is using the Present Tense or the Preterite Tense.

For example:

• Ayer, hablamos con el profesor. (Yesterday, we spoke with the teacher.)
• Normalmente, hablamos con el profesor. (Normally, we speak with the teacher.)

REGULAR ‘-ER’ verbs in the Preterite tense:

Comer	To eat
(yo) comí	I ate
(tú) comiste	You ate
(él/ella/usted) comió	He/she/it ate & you (polite) ate
(nosotros/as) comimos	We ate
(vosotros/as) comisteis	You all ate
(ellos/ellas/ustedes) comieron	They ate & you all (polite) ate

BONUS…

Regular’-IR’ verbs in the Preterite Tense have the same endings at ‘-ER’ verbs!

Escribir	To write
(yo) escribí	I wrote
(tú) escribiste	You wrote
(él/ella/usted) escribió	He/she/it wrote & you (polite) wrote
(nosotros/as) escribimos*	We wrote
(vosotros/as) escribisteis	You all wrote
(ellos/ellas/ustedes) escribieron	They wrote & you all (polite) wrote

*Again, like with Regular -AR verbs, the ‘Nosotros/as’ formation in the Preterite Tense mirrors the ‘Nosotros/as’ formation in the Present tense. Therefore, use what is being said around the verb, especially time phrases, to help you understand whether someone is using the Present Tense or the Preterite Tense.

Watch out for those accents!

Try to take care with the accents in this tense because, one, they don’t appear where you are used to seeing them and two, if you leave certain accents off you can be saying something totally different.

For example:

Habló con Lidia = He/She spoke with Lydia.

If you forget the accent, you are no longer saying this, in fact you are using the Present Tense and saying:

Hablo con Lidia = I speak with Lydia.

As well as making sure to add the accent when writing the verb, remember to use your tone to show the stress when speaking. If you don’t remember to say the ‘ó‘ that bit stronger or longer in order to show the stress, again it could cause some confusion. Of course, this is why learners sometimes like to add the ‘yo‘ or the ‘él/ella‘ etc, especially when speaking…because it helps to clarify who they are talking about.

There’s no denying it…

As useful and well used as this tense is, it is the trickiest, in my opinion.

To sum things up… the endings are pretty varied, there are a fair few irregular rebels, the ‘nosotros/as’ forms for -AR and -IR verbs are the same as the present tense and you have to be extra careful with the accents. It’s quite a lot to consider but don’t worry… practice makes perfect and that’s what you’ll find at Simple Spanish Tips.

Just get to grips with the regular Preterite formations for -AR,-ER and IR verbs. Once you are more confident, take a crack at the Irregular Verbs. ‘Poco a poco’… there’s no rush. Simple Spanish Tips has plenty of interactive practice activities for when you are ready.

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