El pretérito

The preterite review

The preterite is used to express simple past actions completed at

a defined time in the past.

-ar verbs

• Endings for -ar verbs

-é -amos

-aste -asteis

-ó -aron

• These endings are added to most

-ar verbs.

• Endings for -ar verbs

-é -amos

-aste -

-ó -aron

• These endings are added to most

-ar verbs.

lavar – to wash

• lavé• lavaste• lavó

• lavamos

• lavaron

* Accents

Yo ________ la ropa.

Yo lavé la ropa.

Translation into Englishlavar – to wash

• lavé I washed

• lavaste you washed

• lavó he,she,you washed

• lavamos we washed

• lavaron they, you washed

• -ar verbs ending in –car, -gar, -zar have an irregularity

• It affects the first person singular only.

Reason: In Spanish the letter c and g are soft in front of an e. A hard pronunciation is needed.

Also, the letter z does not exist in front of an e in Spanish.

The –car, -gar, -zar verbsIrregulars of -ar verbs

therefore….The irregularity in the “yo” form is:

• For –car verbs the ending would be -qué. Example: tocar – toqué

(not tocé)• For –gar verbs the ending would be

-gué. Example: jugar – jugué

(not jugé)• For –zar verbs the ending would be

-cé. Example: empezar-empecé

(not empezé)

tocar – to play

• toqué• tocaste• tocó

• tocamos• tocasteis• tocaron

Yo __________ la guitarra y Juan la __________ también.

Yo toqué la guitarra y Juan la tocó también.

apagar – to turn off

• apagué• apagaste• apagó

• apagamos

• apagaron

Vosotros ________ las luces en el baño y yo ________ la luz en la cocina.

Vosotros apagasteis las luces en el baño y yo apagué la luz en la cocina.

empezar – to begin

• empecé• empezaste• empezó

• empezamos

• empezaron

Leana y Diego ________ la lección pero yo no la _________.

Leana y Diego empezaron la lección pero yo no la empecé.

-er verbs

• Endings for –er verbs

• -í• -iste• -ió

• -imos• -isteis• -ieron

• These endings are added to most –er verbs.

correr – to run

• corrí• corriste• corrió

• corrimos • corristeis• corrieron

¿Quién corrió a la fiesta?

Who ran to the party?

•All of the endings begin withthe letter “i”í imosiste isteisió ieron

-ir verbs

• Endings for –ir verbs

• -í• -iste• -ió

• -imos• -isteis• -ieron

• These endings are added to most –ir verbs

escribir – to write

• escribí• escribiste• escribió

• escribimos • escribisteis• escribieron

Yo escribí en español.

I wrote in Spanish

• The endings are the same as –er verbsí imosiste isteisió ieron

Present tense –ir stem-changers (boot verbs) also have a stem-change in the preterite tense.

The change is a little different.

In the preterite they are called

the “Slipper Verbs”

dormir(ue,u) – to sleep

• dormí• dormiste• durmió

• dormimos • dormisteis• durmieron

Ella no durmió bien anoche.

She did not sleep well last night.

The “o” changes to “u” in the 3rd persons only.

When you look up stem-changing verbs in the

dictionary, for example:

dormir (ue,u)

present tense “boot” stem-change / preterite tense “sandal” stem-change

dormir (ue,u)The “ue” refers to the stem-change in the

present tense.

• duermo• duermes• duerme

• dormimos• dormís• duermen

Remember the forms that have the stem-change in the present tense form the boot shape. These are the “boot verbs”.

¿Duermes mucho?Do you sleep a lot?

dormir (ue,u)

The “u” refers to the stem-change in the preterite tense.

• dormí• dormiste• durmió

• dormimos • dormisteis• durmieron

The forms that have the stem-change in the preterite tenseform more of a “slipper” shape. These are the “slipper verbs”.

REMEMBER!!Present Tense – Boot Verbs / Preterite Tense – Slipper Verbs

dormir (ue, u)

pedir (i, i)

preferir (ie, i)

mentir (ie, i)

repetir (i, i)

sentir (ie, i)

preferir (ie, i)We have already learned the Boot Verbs when we learned the

present tense.This lección, we are learning the Preterite Slipper Verbs.

pedir(i,i) – to request, ask for

• pedí• pediste• pidió

• pedimos • pedisteis• pidieron

Ud. pidió la ensalada.

You ordered the salad.

The “e” changes to “i” in the 3rd persons only.

preferir (ie, i) – to prefer

• preferí• preferiste• prefirió

• preferimos • preferisteis• prefirieron

Uds. prefirieron español.

You prefered Spanish.

The “e” changes to “i” in the 3rd persons only.

Just follow the same pattern for any other –ir stem-changers you come upon. Just look for the second vowel after the infinitive: sentir(ie,i)

By the way, there are only –ir sandal verbs. -ar or –er verbs do not stem

change in the preterite.

–er and –ir verbs

Y Slippers

-yó / -yeron verbs

leer – to read

• leí• leíste• leyó

• leímos

• leyeron

Leí seis libros para la clase de ingles.

I read six books for English class.

* “y” replaces the “i” in the3rd persons.

* leyeron is the only formwithout an accent.

oír – to hear

• oí• oíste• oyó

• oímos• oísteis• oyeron

¿No oíste la fecha del examen?

Didn’t you hear the date of the test?

* “y” replaces the “i” in the3rd persons.

* oyeron is the only formwithout an accent.

The irregular preterite verbs

estar – to be

• estuve• estuviste• estuvo

• estuvimos

• estuvieron

Estuve en casa ayer.

I was at home yesterday.

* This verb contains “uv”

* There are no accents.

tener – to have

• tuve• tuviste• tuvo

• tuvimos

• tuvieron

Tuve que trabajar ayer.

I had to work yesterday.

* This verb contains “uv” similiar to the preterite conjugation of estar: estuve, estuviste, etc.

* There are no accents.

decir – to say, tell

• dije• dijiste• dijo

• dijimos

• dijeron

Mis padres dijeron que no.

My parents said no.

* The “c” is replaced by a “j”.

* The 3rd person formis –eron.

* There are no accents.

hacer – to do, make

• hice• hiciste• hizo

• hicimos

• hicieron

Juan no hizo su tarea.

Juan didn’t do his homework.

* The “c” is replaced by a “z” in the 3rd person singular form to maintain the softpronunciation.

* There are no accents.

dar and ver – the irregular “fraternal twins”

dar• di• diste• dio• dimos• dieron

ver• vi• viste• vio• vimos• vieron

No accents

ir and ser – the irregular “identical twins”

1. Yo fui (I went, was)

__________________________

2. Tú fuiste (you went,were) __________________________

3. Él fue (he went, was) Ella fue (she went, was) Ud. fue (you went, polite were) fue (it is) “it” was implied

1. Nosotros fuimos (we went,were) Nosotras fuimos (we went, were fem.)___________________________

___________________________

3. Ellos fueron (they went, were) Ellas fueron (they went, were fem.) Uds. fueron (you went, were plural)

Perfecto. Gracias clase.