Past Tense in Spanish Flashcards

Grade 6 · Spanish · Flashcards

Preterite conjugations, irregular verbs, and time expressions for talking about the past in Spanish.

Flashcards

preterite (pretérito indefinido): The Spanish tense used for completed past actions, equivalent to English simple past ('I ate,' 'she ran').
-AR preterite endings: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron (e.g., hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablaron).
-ER / -IR preterite endings: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron (e.g., comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comieron).
ser / ir preterite: Both share: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Context determines which verb is meant.
hacer preterite: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron (to do / to make).
tener preterite: tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron (to have).
estar preterite: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron (to be — location/condition).
ayer: Yesterday — signals a completed past action; use the preterite.
la semana pasada: Last week — a preterite time expression.
el año pasado: Last year — a preterite time expression.
hace + time + que: Expresses how long ago something happened, e.g., 'hace dos días' = two days ago.
de repente: Suddenly — often used with the preterite to describe an unexpected completed event.
anteayer: The day before yesterday — used with the preterite tense.