The preterite: The preterite (el pretérito indefinido) is the tense for completed past actions — things that started and finished, viewed as whole, single events. You use it to say what happened: «comí una pizza», «llegamos a las ocho», «vivió en México dos años». If an action has a clear beginning and end in the past, it lives in the preterite.
- el pretérito indefinido
- the preterite — the simple past for completed actions
- la acción terminada
- the completed action — it started and finished in the past
- el momento concreto
- the specific moment — when exactly it happened (ayer, el lunes)
- la secuencia
- the sequence — one event after another (primero…, después…)
- irregular
- irregular — the verb does not follow the standard preterite pattern
- la tilde
- the accent mark — it can change which person the verb refers to
When you reach for it: If the prompt asks what happened or what you did, or mentions «ayer», «el año pasado», «de repente», «una vez» — it's the preterite. It's the storytelling tense for finished events in the speaking and writing tasks.
Stem + preterite ending: Drop the -ar / -er / -ir to get the stem, then add the preterite ending. The -er and -ir families share the same endings, so you really learn just two sets. Notice the accents on yo and él/ella/usted — they carry the stress and matter for meaning.
| Persona | -ar (hablar) | -er / -ir (comer) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí |
| tú | hablaste | comiste |
| él / ella / usted | habló | comió |
| nosotros / nosotras | hablamos | comimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | hablasteis | comisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablaron | comieron |
The common irregulars: A handful of high-frequency verbs are irregular and just have to be learned: ser/ir → fui (both share the same form), hacer → hice, tener → tuve, estar → estuve, decir → dije. These irregular stems take no accent on yo/él (fui, hice, tuvo), unlike the regular pattern.
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Three classic jobs: The preterite reports finished events. Here are the three uses you meet most in the exam — each with a Spanish example. In every case the action is complete and you can picture it as a single, closed box on a timeline.
Usos del pretérito
- A single completed action — «Anoche terminé mi proyecto.» (Last night I finished my project.)
- A sequence of events, one after another — «Llegué, saludé a todos y me senté.» (I arrived, greeted everyone and sat down.)
- An action at a specific time — «De repente sonó el teléfono.» (Suddenly the phone rang.)
- An action lasting a defined period — «Viví en Madrid durante dos años.» (I lived in Madrid for two years.)
Complete = preterite: Ask: did the action finish? If yes, and you can see its start and end, use the preterite. Time markers like «ayer», «el lunes pasado», «de repente», «una vez» are strong signals that the event is closed and complete.
An anecdote, sentence by sentence: Here's a short past anecdote built one sentence at a time. Every verb reports a completed action in the preterite. Read it once for the meaning, then tap Ver traducción for the English or 🔊 to hear it.
El pretérito en acción
Una anécdota, frase a frase
- Ayer visité a mis abuelos en el pueblo.
- Por la mañana hablé con mi abuela y comimos juntos.
- Después mi abuelo me enseñó las fotos de su boda.
- De repente empezó a llover, así que volvimos pronto a casa.
- Al final del día escribí en mi diario y me dormí enseguida.
Steal this for your story: Notice the pattern: a time marker («ayer», «después», «de repente», «al final del día») + a preterite verb for each finished step. String a few together and you have a ready-made past anecdote for the writing task.
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The slips to watch for: Preterite mistakes cluster around accents and endings. A missing tilde can change the person (and even the tense), and the -ar endings don't fit -er/-ir verbs. Compare the right version with the typical mistake and the fix becomes obvious.
Correcto
- Ayer él habló con su jefe.
- Yo hablé con mi jefe.
- Anoche comí muy tarde.
Error común
- Ayer él hablo con su jefe.
- Yo hable con mi jefe.
- Anoche comé muy tarde.
Mind the tilde, mind the family: Before you move on, check two things: does the accent sit on the right vowel (habló he-spoke vs hablo I-speak; hablé vs hable), and did you use the -er/-ir endings (comí, not comé) on an -er/-ir verb? A misplaced tilde quietly changes the meaning.