The done-and-finished past
The preterite reports events that started and ended: I spoke, we ate, she arrived. It is the tense of ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), and el año pasado (last year).
Spanish has a second past tense, the imperfect, for background and habits; the next unit puts the two side by side. First, you need the preterite forms cold, because they carry the plot of every story you will ever tell.
Regular endings
| Person | hablar | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | viví |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | viviste |
| él / ella / usted | habló | comió | vivió |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros | hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos / ustedes | hablaron | comieron | vivieron |
-er and -ir verbs share one ending set in the preterite. That leaves only two patterns to learn for all regular verbs.
The accents do real work
The written accents in hablé and habló carry meaning. Hablo (no accent) is present: I speak. Habló is preterite: he spoke. Drop the accent in writing and you change the subject and the tense at once.
Note also that the nosotros form of -ar and -ir verbs looks identical in present and preterite: hablamos, vivimos. Context and time markers settle which is meant.
| Ayer hablé con mi jefa. | Yesterday I spoke with my boss. hablé, stressed on the final syllable |
| Mi abuelo vivió en Cuba veinte años. | My grandfather lived in Cuba for twenty years. a closed chapter, so preterite |
| Anoche comimos en un restaurante peruano. | Last night we ate at a Peruvian restaurant. |
Spelling changes in the yo form
Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar adjust their spelling in the yo form to keep the consonant sound intact.
- -car changes c to qu: buscar, yo busqué (I looked for).
- -gar changes g to gu: llegar, yo llegué (I arrived).
- -zar changes z to c: empezar, yo empecé (I started).
| Llegué tarde y busqué un asiento libre. | I arrived late and looked for a free seat. llegué and busqué, spelling adjusted only in the yo form |
| Empecé el curso en enero. | I started the course in January. |
The irregulars you meet on day one
A handful of essential verbs use their own stems and endings, with no accent marks. Ser and ir share identical forms; context tells them apart.
| Verb | yo | él / ella | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|
| ser / ir | fui | fue | fueron |
| hacer | hice | hizo | hicieron |
| tener | tuve | tuvo | tuvieron |
| estar | estuve | estuvo | estuvieron |
| dar | di | dio | dieron |
| Fuimos al cine y después hicimos la cena. | We went to the movies and afterwards made dinner. fuimos from ir, hicimos from hacer |
| Tuve un examen difícil el lunes. | I had a difficult exam on Monday. |
Time markers that call for the preterite
- ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), anteayer (the day before yesterday)
- la semana pasada, el mes pasado, el año pasado (last week / month / year)
- en 2019, el lunes (on Monday, one specific occasion), de repente (suddenly)
| La semana pasada compré los billetes. | Last week I bought the tickets. |
When you can name the moment the event happened or count how many times it happened, the preterite is the safe choice.
Pronunciation corner
Final-syllable stress defines the preterite yo and él forms. Exaggerate it in practice.
| hablé | [aˈβle] | ah-BLEH; hit the last syllable hard |
| comió | [koˈmjo] | ko-MYO; io glides into one syllable |
| llegué | [ʝeˈɣe] | yeh-GEH; ll sounds like y, and gu keeps the g hard |
| fui | [ˈfwi] | fwee, a single quick syllable |
| hizo | [ˈiso] | EE-so; silent h In most of Spain the z sounds like th: [ˈiθo]. |
Practice drill
Conjugate the verb in parentheses in the preterite.
Ayer yo ___ (hablar) con mi jefe.Show answer
hablé
Nosotros ___ (comer) tapas el sábado.Show answer
comimos
Ella ___ (vivir) en Perú tres años.Show answer
vivió
Yo ___ (llegar) tarde a clase.Show answer
lleguég to gu before é
Ellos ___ (ir) al cine anoche.Show answer
fueron
¿Qué ___ (hacer, tú) el fin de semana?Show answer
hiciste
Yo ___ (buscar) las llaves por toda la casa.Show answer
busquéc to qu before é
Usted ___ (tener) mucha suerte.Show answer
tuvo
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep hablo and habló apart?
By stress and accent. Hablo, stressed on HA, is present tense, 'I speak'. Habló, stressed on the final O and written with an accent, is preterite, 'he or she spoke'. Reading aloud while you study locks the pattern in faster than silent review.
Why do fui and fue serve both ser and ir?
Historical accident: the two verbs merged their past forms centuries ago. Context always disambiguates. Fui a Madrid means I went to Madrid; fui profesor means I was a teacher. No native speaker ever confuses them in real sentences.
Are there stem changes in the preterite like in the present?
The -ar and -er stem changers behave regularly in the preterite: pensé, volvió. Only -ir stem changers shift in the third person: pedir gives pidió and pidieron, dormir gives durmió and durmieron. Everything else follows the tables in this unit.
When exactly do the -car, -gar, -zar changes apply?
Only in the yo form of the preterite, where the ending -é would otherwise distort the sound: busqué, llegué, empecé. All other forms are regular: buscaste, llegó, empezaron. The change protects pronunciation; nothing about the meaning shifts.
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