AAV - All preterite (Lesson)

All preterite

Pretérito

The preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed. The use of the preterite tense implies that the past action had a definite beginning and definite end.

Ejemplo:

  • Marcos habló con la profesora.
  • Marcos spoke with the teacher.

To conjugate verbs to preterite tense, you drop the -ar, -er, and -ir. Then, add the following endings:

Chart on conjugating Spanish verbs in the preterite tense

Irregular Preterite Stems

  • Estar/estuv-
  • Hacer/hic-
  • Poder/pud-
  • Poner/pus-
  • Querer/quis-
  • Saber/sup-
  • Tener/tuv-
  • Venir/vin-
  • Andar/anduv-
  • Decir/dij- -
  • Traer/traj-

 

Dar, Ser & Ir

Conjugating Spanish verbs dar, ser, and ir in the preterite tense

 

CAR, -GAR, -ZAR Verbs in the Preterite

  • Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu
  • Verbs that end in -car change c to qu
  • Verbs that end in -zar change z to c

Chart of Spanish car, gar zar conugation in the preterite

Stem-changing Verbs in the Preterite

-ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the preterite. They are conjugated just like other regular preterite verbs.

Chart showing stem-changing Spanish verbs in the preterite tense

 -ir verbs that change their stem in the present tense do change in the preterite, but in different ways. They change e:i and o:u in the third person, singular and plural.

Chart of Spanish -ir verbs and how they change their stem in the preterite tense

 

Try this activity on the preterite tense.

 

 

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