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
Read more about Simple Past Tips in Spanish
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”
Learn more about the Spanish verb tenses
