El Preterito
|
El
Pretérito:
 Description
Exercises
(Click on the dot to go directly to related
exercises)
Verb
List (Click on the dot to go directly
to a (partial) list of verbs)
The Pretérito
is ONE of several ways we can communicate about past events.
It's especially useful for the following situations:
-
To
state EVENTS in the past which happened ONE TIME (or
just a few times).
For
example: (I WALKED home yesterday, we TALKED last night).
-
EVENTS
or ACTIONS that have a specific beginning and/or end point.
These
are often indicated by a word or expression which signals the time/day/date
when the ACTION or EVENT happened.
Just
ask yourself:
At the end of the sentence, has the ACTION been accomplished?
Forming
the pretérito:
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REGULAR
VERB ENDINGS:
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-ar
|
|
é
aste
ó
|
amos
-----
aron
|
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-er/-ir
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í
iste
ió
|
imos
-----
ieron
|
|
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bailar
|
| bailé
bailaste
bailó
|
bailamos
- - - - - -
bailaron
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aprender
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aprendí
aprendiste
aprendió
|
aprendimos
-
- - - - - - - -
aprendieron
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salir
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salí
saliste
salió
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salimos
-
- - - -
salieron
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-AR
and -ER verbs which stem-change
in the present indicative
DO NOT CHANGE AT ALL here!!
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POR
EJEMPLO:
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encontrar
ellos encontraron el dinero
perdido en el suelo.
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volver
yo volví
anoche a las 10.
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REGULAR
ENDINGS
(WITH SOME SMALL
SPELLINGS CHANGES)
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leer
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| leí
leíste
leyó
|
leímos
-
- - - -
leyeron
|
|
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oír
|
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oí
oíste
oyó
|
oímos
-
- - - -
oyeron
|
|
|
creer
|
|
creí
creíste
creyó
|
creímos
-
- - - - - -
creyeron
|
|
note: caerse is also a "Y" verb!
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-car
|
| toqué
tocaste
tocó
|
tocamos
-----
tocaron
|
|
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-gar
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jugué
jugaste
jugó
|
jugamos
-----
jugaron
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|
|
-zar
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comencé
comenzaste
comenzó
|
comenzamos
-----
comenzaron
|
|
Of
course, there are usually some irregulars . . .
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IRREGULAR
VERB ENDINGS
|
|
e
iste
o
|
imos
---
ieron
|
|
NO
ACCENTS!!
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This is not a complete list.
There are other irregulars, but these are some common irregulars.
LEARN THEM!
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poner
|
puse,
pusiste,
puso,
pusimos,
pusieron |
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hacer
|
hice,
hiciste,
hiZo,
hicimos,
hicieron |
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venir
|
vine,
viniste,
vino,
vinimos,
vinieron |
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traer
|
traje,
trajiste,
trajo,
trajimos,
trajeron
(no "i") |
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decir
|
dije,
dijiste,
dijo,
dijimos,
dijeron
(no "i") |
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conducir
|
conduje,
condujiste,
condujo,
condujimos,
condujeron |
Other
Irregulars:
|
dar
|
| di
diste
dio
|
dimos
-----
dieron
|
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|
ir
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fui
fuiste
fue
|
fuimos
-----
fueron
|
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some
words that often accompany el pretérito:
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|
anoche
ayer
anteayer
el
año pasado / la semana pasada
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| Why
do you think these words are "pretérito" words? |
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