Learn how to form and use the Spanish preterite tense and practise with interactive A2-level exercises. Work on regular and irregular verbs, learn to talk about completed actions in the past and check your answers instantly.
Ayer nosotros _____ al cine.
Correct! Ayer nosotros fuimos al cine.The Spanish preterite tense is a tense that we use to talk about actions completed in the past.
We use the preterite tense when we present an action as completed at a time before the present.
We normally place the action in a finished time period, such as ayer, el sábado, la semana pasada or el año pasado.
The formation depends on whether the infinitive ends in -ar, -er or -ir. We separate the verb stem and add the ending for each person.
We use the verb hablar. We remove -ar and add the preterite endings.
| Person | Hablar |
|---|---|
| yo | hablé |
| tú | hablaste |
| él / ella / usted | habló |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | hablasteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablaron |
Ayer hablé con María.
Mis padres hablaron con el profesor.
Regular verbs ending in -er and -ir use the same endings in the preterite tense.
| Person | Comer | Vivir |
|---|---|---|
| yo | comí | viví |
| tú | comiste | viviste |
| él / ella / usted | comió | vivió |
| nosotros/as | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros/as | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | comieron | vivieron |
Ayer comimos en un restaurante.
Ana vivió tres años en México.
Mis amigos salieron a las diez.
Yo aprendí mucho durante el curso.
Some very common verbs change their stem in the preterite tense and use a special set of endings.
| Infinitive | Stem | Example |
|---|---|---|
| tener | tuv- | tuve |
| estar | estuv- | estuve |
| poder | pud- | pude |
| poner | pus- | puse |
| saber | sup- | supe |
| venir | vin- | vine |
| querer | quis- | quise |
Añadimos las terminaciones directamente a la raíz: tuv- + -e = tuve.
Ayer tuve mucho trabajo.
No pudimos entrar.
Marta vino a mi casa.
Mis padres estuvieron en Sevilla.
The verbs ser and ir have exactly the same forms in the preterite tense. The context tells us which verb we are using.
| Person | Ser / Ir |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él / ella / usted | fue |
| nosotros/as | fuimos |
| vosotros/as | fuisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | fueron |
We look at the words around the verb and the overall meaning of the sentence.
These three verbs have irregular forms that are very common. Pay particular attention to hizo, dijeron and trajeron.
Ayer hice los deberes.
Laura me dijo la verdad.
Mis amigos trajeron comida.
In the third-person singular, the letter c changes to z: hacer → hizo.
With stems ending in -j we use -eron, not -ieron.
We use this tense for completed actions and events and to tell what happened in the past.
We present a past action as completely finished.
Ayer estudié tres horas.
El sábado compramos un coche.
María llamó esta mañana.
It is particularly common when we mention a period that has already ended.
Ayer fui al médico.
La semana pasada tuvimos un examen.
El año pasado viajé a Italia.
We use several preterite forms to describe actions that happened one after another.
Ayer Ana llegó a casa, abrió la puerta y encendió la luz.
Review at a glance how we form and when we use the Spanish preterite tense. Learn the endings of the regular verbs, the most common irregular forms and the time expressions we use to talk about actions completed in the past.
Download the PDF ↓ Free PDF · No registration requiredNow it’s your turn. Complete the following exercises using the Spanish preterite tense. Pay attention to the endings of regular verbs and the forms of the main irregular verbs.
Learning the endings is only the first step. To use verb tenses naturally, you need to practise them in real conversations and situations.
At PCE Spanish School you can learn Spanish with specialised teachers and work on grammar, vocabulary and conversation in live online classes.
Complete the sentence:
“Ayer Marta _____ a casa”.
Look at some of the most common mistakes when choosing and conjugating the Spanish preterite tense.
In Spanish as spoken in Spain, with a clearly completed period such as ayer, we normally use the preterite tense.
Each person requires the corresponding ending: yo hablé, whereas tú hablaste.
Hacer is irregular in the preterite tense. Its third-person singular form is hizo.
Verbs whose irregular stem ends in -j use -eron: dijeron, not dijieron.
We do not automatically use the preterite simply because we are talking about the past. To express habits and habitual situations we normally use the imperfect tense.
We answer the most common questions about how this past tense is formed and used.
It is a past tense that we use mainly to present actions and events as completed.
Regular verbs use different endings depending on whether they end in -ar, -er or -ir. There are also many irregular verbs that we need to learn gradually.
At A2 level, it is particularly useful to know common forms such as fui, tuve, estuve, hice, pude, puse, vine, quise, dije and traje.
In Spanish as spoken in Spain, he comido generally links the action to a period that we consider current. By contrast, comí generally places it within a completed period in the past.
The use of these tenses can vary between regions of the Spanish-speaking world.
Yes. Both verbs use the forms fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis and fueron. The context tells us which verb is being used.
