In English: I played / I did play

The Preterite Tense is formed by adding

endings onto the stem.

AR Verbs
comprar
I compr
compré
You (sg) compr
compraste
MFL He / she / it compró
compr
We compramos
compr
You (pl) comprasteis
compr
They compraron
compr
©CAS 2002
 Practice………
caminar
1. IHe
6. walked
spoke
(to walk)
caminé
habló
dibujar 2. She
7. You (pl)
watched
walked
(to draw) miró
caminasteis

hablar 3. They
8. I worked
worked
(to speak) trabajaron
trabajé

mirar 4. We watched
9. drew
MFL
(to watch) dibujamos
miramos

10.I
5. You
drew
(sg) spoke
trabajar
hablaste
dibujé
(to work)
©CAS 2002
 ER and IR Verbs
vender vivir
I vend
vendí viv
viví
You (sg) vend
vendiste viv
viviste
He / she / it vendió
vend vivió
viv
We vendimos
vend vivimos
viv
You (pl) vendisteis
vend vivisteis
viv
MFL vendieron vivieron
They vend viv

©CAS 2002
 Practice………
romper 6.
1. You
We ran
(pl) broke
(to break) rompisteis
corrimos

correr 7.
2. She
He ate
discussed
(to run) discutió
comió

comer 8.
3. We
I chose
ate
(to eat) comimos
elegí

elegir 9.
4. IYou
ran (sg) broke
MFL (to choose) corrí
rompiste

discutir 10.
5. They
You (sg)
discussed
chose
(to discuss) elegiste
discutieron

©CAS 2002
 Irregular preterites:
andar to walk
caber to fit
dar to give
decir to say In other words,
estar to be All of these
they don’t
haber to have verbs are
hacer to do/make follow any of
irregular in the
ir to go the patterns
poder to be able Preterite
that we have
poner to put Tense.
producir to produce already seen.
MFL querer to want
saber to know
ser to be
tener to have
traer to bring
venir to come
©CAS 2002
 El pretérito indefinido Dar = to give Estar = to be
Verbos regulares Ir = to go Ser = to be
Hacer = to do Tener = to have
Poder = to be able
Venir = to come
Estudiar (to study) vender (to sell) comprar (to buy) tomar (to take/have)
Salir (to go out) viajar (to travel) terminar (to finish) empezar (to start)
Hablar (to speak) comer (to eat) esperar (to wait/hope) beber (to drink)
Ver (to see/watch) vivir (to live) escribir (to write) leer (to read)

1. ayer yo _________________ (comer) patatas fritas

2. el verano pasado nosotros _______________________(trabajar) en una tienda de ropa
3. ¿vosotros __________________ (aprender) otro idioma en tu antiguo instituto?
4. en el pasado, mi madre _________________(viajar) mucho en avión
5. el domingo pasado, mis hermanas ___________________(esperar) al tren por 3 horas
6. Yo __________________(beber) media botella de vino con la cena
7. ¿tú ___________________(ver) la telenovela ayer?
8. mi marido y yo _________________ (vivir) en Poole hace cuatro años
9. mi mejor amiga me _________________(escribir) un correo electrónico anoche
10. ¿usted ______________________(trabajar) aquí cuando era más joven?

we didn’t travel : she lived:

did you guys speak?: we started:
he read: I travelled:
you (polite) spoke: he ate:
my friend drank: my friend and I watched:
my friends (they) went out; I didn’t buy:
 EL PRETERITO INDEFINIDO SUBJECTS PRETERITO
GRAVE
IRREGULAR verbs
endings
IR (to go): fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Yo -E
SER (to be): fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Tú -ISTE
DAR (to give): di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron.
Él, ella, usted -O
Nosotros/as -IMOS
EL PRETÉRITO GRAVE
Vosotros/as -ISTEIS
HABER (there being) – hubo = there was/were
Ellos/as, ustedes -IERON
HACER (to do/make): hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron HIC-

QUERER (to want): quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron QUIS-
TENER (to have): tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron (mantener, obtener, ) TUV-
VENIR (to come): vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron VIN- Stems
ESTAR (to be): estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron ESTUV-
Pus-
PODER (to be able): pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron PUD-
Dij-
DECIR (to tell): dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron DIJ-
Hic-
TRAER (to bring): traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron TRAJ-
Vin-
CONDUCIR (to drive): conduje, condujiste, condujo, condujimos, condujisteis, condujeron CONDUJ-
Estuv-
PONER (to put): puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron (proponer, suponer) PUS-
Tuv-
SABER (to know): supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron SUP-
Pud-
ANDAR (to walk): anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron ANDUV-
Quis-
CABER (to fit in): cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron CUP-
HABER (there being): HUBE, HUBISTE, HUBO, HUBIMOS, HUBISTEIS, HUBIERON. HUB-

RADICAL CHANGING VERBS

Only –IR verbs affected. The vowel change only takes place in the 3 rd person singular and plural.
E > I PREFeRIR: preferí, preferiste, prefirió, preferimos, preferisteis, prefirieron
E > I PeDIR: pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
O > U DoRMIR: dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
 Stems
ir (to go) ser (to be) estar (to be) poder (to be able) Pus-
poner (to put on) venir (to come) traer (to bring) querer (to want) Dij-
decir (to say/tell) saber (to know) tener (to have) dar (to give) Hic-
Vin-
hacer (to do/make) Estuv-
Tuv-
1.Mi familia y yo ___________ (estar) en Mallorca el verano Pud-
Quis-
pasado
2.El camarero _________(traer) la cuenta hace media hora SUBJECTS PRETERIT
O GRAVE
3.Mi amiga ____________(tener) un accidente con el coche endings
Yo -E
4.¿a qué hora ___________(venir) tú, ayer? Tú -ISTE
5.Mis padres _________(venir) muy tarde del cine anoche El, ella, usted -O
Nosostros/as -IMOS
6.Ayer yo no ___________(poder) hacer los deberes Vosotros/as -ISTEIS
7.Ayer mi madre me _________(decir) que voy a tener un hermano
Ellos/as, uds -IERON
8.Ayer por la tarde mis padres ____________(ir) al teatro
9.El verano pasado yo __________(ir) a Francia por mis vacaciones
10.El martes pasado tú _________(hacer) los deberes de ciencias
11.¿Qué _________(decir) usted?
12.El sábado pasado _____________(ser) mi cumpleaños
El pretérito y el imperfecto:
• Consideraciones generales
• Both the preterite and the imperfect are past tenses, much as the way "he did" and "he was doing" both express past
action in English. The deciding factor is: aspect.
• Every action has a beginning, a middle, and an end. When one wishes to focus on the middle of an action, the action is
on-going, that is, nothing changes radically. For example, "he was eating" indicates the "middle" of the action of
eating in the past. We don't know when he started to eat or when he finished. We just know that at a certain time in the
past, he was in the middle of eating. This focus on the middle of an action is called the imperfective aspect. Not
surprisingly, it is associated with the imperfect tense in Spanish, for example:
• hablaba I was speaking viajábamos we used to travel estaban they were. In each case, there is no notion that the
action began or ended, only that at some point it was on-going. English has three different, common ways to indicate
the imperfect: the past progressive ("was speaking") to show that a single action continued, the "used to" construction
to show that a series of separate actions continued, and the simple past, used particularly with verbs that show state of
mind or body ("was," "thought," etc.) as ongoing in the past.
• If the imperfect is used to denote the middle of an action, the preterite is used to indicate the beginning or the end
of an action. When one says, "I shut the door," on the other hand, by the time one says that, the door is already shut;
the action has been completed.
• One usually uses the imperfect to describe background (ongoing) actions and states, or something that was going
on when another action interrupted. Likewise, the preterite is used to describe a series of discrete actions that
occurred in sequence and then were over. The time always in the imperfect ("era la una"), and there are even some
verbs whose meaning (or at least whose translation) changes when one uses one tense or the other.

• Verb Preterite Imperfect

• saber supe - "I found out“ sabía - "I knew“
• conocer conocí - "I met“ conocía - "I knew“
• Querer quise - "I tried“ quería - "I wanted“
• no quise “ I refused”
• Poder pude “I managed” podia – I could
• Tener tuve (I received, got) tenia (I had)
 PRETÉRITO
conocer to meet.
Meeting someone for the first time
Ellos se conocieron en San Juan.
They met in San Juan.
poder to be able to do something and actually doing it
Por fin pude ir al cine.
At last I was able to go to the movies.
querer to want to do something and actually doing it
Pepe quiso estudiar contigo.
Pepe wanted to study with you (and he did).
saber  to find out information (not known before)
Ayer supe su nombre, tú me lo dijiste: ¡gracias!
I found out his name yesterday. You told me his
name: thanks!  I didn't know his name (until yesterday), but you
tener to have, to possess, to get at a specific moment in
the past
Tuve un perro. / Tú tuviste un accidente.
I had a dog. / You had an accident.
tener que to have to do something and doing it
Ayer tuvieron que quedarse en la casa.
Yesterday they had to stay home.
(they indeed stayed at home)
IMPERFECTO
to know.
Knowing someone from before.
Ella ya conocía a tus padres.
She already knew your parents.
could; to be able to do something but not
necessarily doing it
Ellos podían ir, pero no fueron.
They could go, but didn't.
to want to do something but not necessarily doing
it
Rita quería caminar por el parque.
Rita wanted to walk around the park (maybe she
did, maybe she did not).
to know (or not know) information from before
Yo no sabía su nombre, pero tú sí lo sabías:
¡gracias!
knew his name (and you told me): thanks!
to used to have, once upon a time
De niña, yo tenía un perro. / Tú tenías accidentes a
menudo.
As a child, I used to have a dog. / You used to have
accidents often.
to have to do something but not necessarily doing
it
Tenían que limpiar la casa.
They had to clean the kitchen.
(maybe they cleaned it or maybe they did not)
Imperfect of Preterite?

1.I didn’t buy the shoes because they were too small.
2.They bought the house which had a garden.
3.Antonio Banderas was acting in the film that I saw the other day.
4.the train wasn’t going in the direction that we wanted.
5.The other day Antonio ate all the biscuits that were in the tin.
6.When I was young, my mother used to take me to the park.
7.When you were ten years old, what did you used to do in your spare time?
8.He didn’t come to school yesterday because he was ill.
9.Last summer Luis went to Spain because he had a house on the coast.
10.Because it was my birthday on Thursday, I went to the disco with my
friends.
11.When we lived in Italy last year, we spoke Italian and ate Italian food.
12.They were crossing the road when they saw their aunt.
13.When she lived in Spain, she liked going to the swimming pool.
14.We were tired and were hungry; so we went to bed.
15.It was three o’clock, it was hot and I was thirsty; I decided to go home.
The imperfect is used to indicate a mental state, a mental action, or a state of indefinite duration with verbs such as
sentir, creer, conocer, pensar, querer, and saber.

• Pensar El pensaba en mi
• Nos conociamos desde que eramos pequenos
• Me gustaba caminar por las calles
• To refer to simultaneous actions and there is no mention of a specific time in the past
• ella trabajaba y yo descansaba
• El ladron salia mientras nosotras entrabamos a la habitacion
 PLUPERFECT
Imperfect Past participle
of haber -ar verbs -er and -ir verbs
había comprado I had bought venido I had come
habías
había Llegado He/she had arrived vivido He/she had lived

habíamos Comido We had eaten

habíais entregado You had handed in

habían
 PRESENT PERFECT

Present of haber Past participle

-ar verbs -er and -ir verbs
(yo) he Comprado bought vivido lived
(tú) has Trabajado worked tenido (had)

(él/ella/usted) ha Llegado arrived vivido (lived)

(Nosotros/as) hemos Visitado visited Ido (gone)

(Vosotros/as) habéis Cantado sung Comido ( eaten)

(Ellos/as/ustedes) han Terminado finished Bebido drunk

 Escribe los verbos en el perfecto:
1. yo no _____________________ (hacer**) los deberes
2. mi hermana no ___________________(escuchar) al profesor
3. Recientemente mis amigos _________________(salir) todas las noches
4. mi padre ____________________(vender to sell) su coche viejo
5. (yo) _______ (entender to understand) la pregunta
6. ¿vosotros _______________________(comprar) la leche en el supermercado?
7. ¿(tú) ____________________(hacer**) los deberes?
8. mi mejor amigo no _________________(viajar) en avión todavía
9. en mi casa nosotros siempre ___________________(tener) muchos animales
10. mi hermana mayor ________________(conocer to know) a un actor famoso
11. yo __________________ (relajarse to relax) mucho últimamente.
12. mis amigos y yo __________________(practicar) muchos deportes este año
13. ¿usted ___________________(trabajar) aquí?
 Practice………
What are the past participles of these verbs ?
bailar amar permitir

deber aprender entrar

temer (to fear) vivir admitir

MFL
desear esperar beber

decidir prometer existir

©CAS 2002
 There are some irregular past participles:

abrir to open abierto

cubrir to cover cubierto
decir to say dicho
escribir to write escrito
hacer to do/make hecho
morir to die muerto
poner to put puesto
MFL
resolver to solve resuelto
romper to break roto
ver to see visto
volver to return vuelto
©CAS 2002
Yo había salido cuando el teléfono sonó. (I had gone out when
the telephone rang.)
Juan y yo ya habíamos cenado cuando la sra. Patricia nos invito a
comer.
(Juan and I had already had dinner when Mrs. Patricia offered us
food.)
 
Mauricio había hablado con su papá cuando llegó su mamá.
(Mauricio had spoken to his father when his mother arrived.)
 
Roberto y Julio habían bebido antes de llegar a la fiesta.
(Roberto and Julio had drank rum before they arrived at the party.)
 
 
Translate the following into Spanish. 
1.  When he got (llegar) home her sister had already left (marcharse).

2.  I had practiced (practicar) my Spanish before watching tv (antes de + inf.).

3.  We had eaten too much, when the waiter brought (traer) the dessert.

4.  Paco and Enrique had finished the exam when the bell rang (timbre, sonar).

5.  You had changed your money before the bank closed (antes de + inf).

7.  Marisol and I had eaten breakfast before we went to school.

8.  When we got to the cinema the film had already (ya) started .

9. Ana had not slept a lot before she got (subir) on the plane (avion)

10. Juan had written to Carmen when he received (recibir) her letter .