Use the preterite to relate past actions that occurred at a specific time in the past.
● Nací en 1990. (I was born in 1990.)
If you plan to talk about past actions and mention the moment in which those actions occurred, use the preterite past tense.
The Preterite Conjugation
SPELLING CHANGES: CA, QUE; ZA, CE; GA, GUE…
To conjugate verbs ending in -car, -gar, -guar and -zar in the preterite past tense, you must take into account some spelling rules.
Sometimes the same sound (/k/, /g/…) can be written with different letters.
●acercar → acerqué
● llegar→ llegué
● averiguar→ averigüé
● almorzar→ almorcé
In Spanish, an unaccented i between two other vowels is pronounced as a consonant and is written with a y.
For this reason, when -er or -ir is preceded by a vowel, in the third person singular and in the third person plural, the i becomes y.
● construir→ construyó / construyeron
● oír→ oyó / oyeron
● caer → cayó / cayeron
● huir→ huyó / huyeron
Spanish Preterite Verbs
Here are common regular preterite verbs in Spanish along with their conjugation.
You will notice six verb forms, belonging respectively to the following persons: (1) yo; (2) tu and vos; (3) él, ella, usted; (4) nosotros, nosotras; (5) vosotros, vosotras; (6) ellos, ellas and ustedes.
For a full list of irregular preterite verbs, visit the post Irregular Preterite Verbs: A Conjugated Verb List.
1. ver (to see)
– vi
– viste
– vio
– vimos
– visteis
– vieron
2. pasar (to walk by, pass)
– pasé
– pasaste
– pasó
– pasamos
– pasasteis
– pasaron
3. deber (must)
– debí
– debiste
– debió
– debimos
– debisteis
– debieron
4. dejar (to leave)
– dejé
– dejaste
– dejó
– dejamos
– dejasteis
– dejaron
5. llevar (to carry)
– llevé
– llevaste
– llevó
– llevamos
– llevasteis
– llevaron
6. encontrar (to find)
– encontré
– encontraste
– encontró
– encontramos
– encontrasteis
– encontraron
7. quedarse (to stay)
– me quedé
– te quedaste
– se quedó
– nos quedamos
– os quedasteis
– se quedaron
8. hablar (to speak)
– hablé
– hablaste
– habló
– hablamos
– hablasteis
– hablaron
9. pensar (to think)
– pensé
– pensaste
– pensó
– pensamos
– pensasteis
– pensaron
10. volver (to return)
– volví
– volviste
– volvió
– volvimos
– volvisteis
– volvieron
11. conocer (to know)
– conocí
– conociste
– conoció
– conocimos
– conocisteis
– conocieron
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