Simple Past Tips in Spanish

Simple Past Tips in Spanish

It’s time to learn about some Simple Past tips in Spanish. Study Spanish verb conjugations with online lessons. Read about the Spanish grammar rules.

What are some Simple Past Tips in Spanish?

Note: “-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.

e.g.  entender (to understand)

Subject-Present–Preterite

yo–entiendo–entendí

tú–entiendes–entendiste

usted/él/ella–entiende–entendió

nosotros(as)–entendemos–entendimos

vosotros(as)–entendéis–entendisteis

ustedes/ellos(as)–entienden–entendieron

 

Note: “- ir” verbs that change their stem in the Present tense do change in the Preterite, but in a different way. They change “e:i” and “o:u” in the third person, singular and plural.

e.g.   preferir (to prefer)

Subject-Present–Preterite

yo–prefiero–preferí

tú–prefieres–preferiste

usted/él/ella–prefiere–prefirió

nosotros(as) –preferimos–preferimos

vosotros(as)–preferís–preferisteis

ustedes/ellos(as)–prefieren–prefirieron

 

e.g. dormir (to sleep)

Subject-Present–Preterite

yo–duermo–dormí

tú–duermes–dormiste

usted/él/ella–duerme– durmió

nosotros(as)–dormimos–dormimos

vosotros(as)–dormís–dormisteis

ustedes/ellos(as)–duermen–durmieron

 

Note: In order to preserve the sound of the infinitive, a number of verbs change orthographically (spelling) in the Preterite Tense. The following changes occur in the “yo” form only:

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

e.g.

yo jugué (jugar) (to play) yo busqué (buscar) (to search) yo empecé (empezar) (to start)

Note: Most common orthographic changing verbs for the Preterite Tense in these categories are:

-gar-car-zar

cegar–aparcar–almorzar

colgar–buscar–autorizar

jugar–clarificar–cazar

llegar–clasificar–comenzar

pagar–destacar–cruzar

plegar–empacar–empezar

regar–justificar–forzar

rogar–practicar–organizar

tragar–sacar–simbolizar

vagar–tocar–tropezarse

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Note: For verbs that end in “- aer”, “- eer”, “- oír”, and “- oer”, the él/ella/usted forms use the ending “yó” (rather than ió) and the ellos/ellas/ustedes forms uses the ending “yeron” (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter “i”

creer (to believe)

yo creí tú creíste él/ella/usted creyó nosotros creímos vosotros creísteis ellos/ellas/ustedes creyeron

 

Here is the list of verbs similar to  “creer”:

caer-to fall

leer–to read

oír–to hear

poseer–to own

proveer–to provide

roer–to gnaw

 

Exceptions to this rule include:

traer-to bring

atraer–to attract

distraer–to distract

 

Note: Verbs that end in “- uir” change in the same way, but the written accent over the letter “i” only occurs in the “yo form”.

huir (to run away)

yo – huí tú – huiste él/ella/usted – huyó nosotros(a) – huimos vosotros(a) – huisteis ustedes, ellos(as)  – huyeron

 

Here is the list of verbs similar to  “huir”:

construir-to build

contribuir–to contribute

destruir–to destroy

fluir–to flow

incluir–to include

influir–to influence

 

Note: The following verbs are irregular in the Preterite and must be memorized:

 

Subject-decir (to say)–traer(to bring)–ver(to see)

yo–dije–traje–vi

tú–dijiste–trajiste–viste

usted–dijo–trajo–vio

él/ella–dijo–trajo–vio

nosotros(as)–dijimos–trajimos–vimos

vosotros(as)–dijisteis–trajisteis–visteis

ustedes/ellos(as)–dijeron–trajeron–vieron

 

Here is the list of verbs similar to  “traer”:

atraer-to attract

detraer–to detract

distraer–to distract

extraer–to extract

maltraer–to mistreat

retraer–to retract

sustraer–to subtract

 

Note: Verbs that end in “-ucir” are irregular and conjugated as follows:

producir (to produce)

yo produje tú produjiste usted produjo

él/ella produjo nosotros (as) produjimos vosotros (as)  produjisteis ustedes/ ellos(as)   produjeron

 

Other verbs in this category include:

aducir-to adduce

conducir–to drive

coproducir–to coproduce

deducir–to deduct

inducir–to induce

introducir–to introduce

reducir–to reduce

traducir–to translate

 

Note: A number of verbs that are irregular in the Preterite follow a particular pattern. While their stems change, they all take the following endings:

-e -iste -o

-o -imos -isteis -ieron

 

Here are the verbs, along with their corresponding stem changes:

Infinitive – Stem Change – English Verbs

andar–anduv–to walk

estar–estuv–to be

tener–tuv–to have

caber–cup–to fit

haber–hub–to have

poder–pud–to power

poner–pus–to place

saber–sup–to know

hacer–hic–to do

querer–quis–to want

venir–vin–to come

 

Here are two examples of how this pattern is applied:

Subject-estar (estuv-) / saber (sup-)

yo–estuve–supe

tú–estuviste–supiste

usted–estuvo–supo

él/ella–estuvo–supo

nosotros(as)–estuvimos–supimos

vosotros(as)–estuvisteis–supisteis

ustedes/ellos(as)–estuvieron–supieron

 

Note: The one exception is the third person singular of “hacer”. As you learned in a previous lesson, the “c” changes to “z” to form “hizo”

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