Preterite: comí
A2–B1The past 10 min
The preterite tells actions finished at a known time in the past: hablé, comí, viví. Regular forms stress the ending, and yo and él mark it with a written accent: Ayer hablé con Luis. Luis llegó tarde.
No information at the current level. This view starts at A2: choose A2 or a higher level.
No information at the current level. This view starts at A2: choose A2 or a higher level.
CheatsheetA2–B1
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form | hablar: hablé / hablaste / habló / hablamos / hablaron | Ayer trabajé mucho. | I worked a lot yesterday. |
| Form | comer / vivir: comí / comiste / comió / comimos / comieron | Anoche comimos pizza. | We had pizza last night. |
| Form | vosotros: hablasteis / comisteis / vivisteis | ¿Visteis el partido? | Did you see the match? |
| Form | ser and ir share one set of forms: fui / fue / fueron | El sábado fuimos al cine. | On Saturday we went to the cinema. |
| Form | a new stem, with no accent: tener → tuve, hacer → hice | Ayer tuve un examen. | I had an exam yesterday. |
| B1Form | spelling changes in yo: buscar → busqué, llegar → llegué, empezar → empecé | El lunes empecé a trabajar. | On Monday I started work. |
| B1Form | stem-changing -ir verbs change in él and ellos: pedir → pidió, dormir → durmió | El niño durmió toda la noche. | The child slept all night. |
| Use | an action finished at a stated past time | Ana nació en 2001. | Ana was born in 2001. |
| Use | a chain of events, one after another | Llegué, cené y me acosté. | I got home, had dinner and went to bed. |
| B1Use | a whole period that is over, with its length | Viví tres años en Quito. | I lived in Quito for three years. |
| Trap | the accent marks the past: hablo ≠ habló | Ayer Ana habló conmigo. | Ana talked to me yesterday. |
| Trap | fui / fue / vi / dio have no written accent | Te vi ayer. | I saw you yesterday. |
OverviewA2
- The preterite tells an action that started and ended at a known time in the past. Ayer llamé a mi madre. — I called my mother yesterday.
- Spanish grammars call it pretérito indefinido or pretérito perfecto simple.
- Latin America: In most of Latin America, the preterite also tells actions finished earlier today; Andean Spanish (Peru, Bolivia, highland Ecuador) uses the perfect for them, as Spain does: Hoy desayuné temprano. — I had breakfast early today.
- Spain: In Spain, an action finished earlier today usually takes the present perfect: Hoy he desayunado temprano. — I had breakfast early today.
- For description and habits in the past, see Preterite or Imperfect.
Form: regular verbsA2
| Person | hablar | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | viví |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | viviste |
| él / ella / usted | habló | comió | vivió |
| nosotros / nosotras | hablamos | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablaron | comieron | vivieron |
- Verbs in -er and -ir share one set of endings.
- The yo and él forms carry a written accent on the last syllable: Llegué tarde. / Ella llegó tarde. — I arrived late. / She arrived late.
- The nosotros form of -ar and -ir verbs looks like the present; a time word marks the past: Anoche cenamos en casa. — Last night we had dinner at home.
Form: irregular verbsA2–B1
| Person | ser / ir | tener | hacer |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | tuve | hice |
| tú | fuiste | tuviste | hiciste |
| él / ella / usted | fue | tuvo | hizo |
| nosotros / nosotras | fuimos | tuvimos | hicimos |
| vosotros / vosotras | fuisteis | tuvisteis | hicisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | fueron | tuvieron | hicieron |
- ser and ir share their forms; the sentence shows which verb it is: Fue un buen día. / Marta fue a Cuba. — It was a good day. / Marta went to Cuba.
- A new stem takes e and o in yo and él, with no accent: Ayer estuve en casa. / Luis hizo la cena. — I was at home yesterday. / Luis made dinner.
- hacer writes z before o: hizo. ¿Qué hizo usted el domingo? — What did you do on Sunday?
- ver and dar take the endings of -er and -ir verbs, with no accent: Ayer vi a Marta. / Me dio un regalo. — I saw Marta yesterday. / She gave me a present.
| Verb and stem | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| estar → estuv- | ¿Dónde estuviste ayer? | Where were you yesterday? |
| B1poder → pud- | No pude ir a la fiesta. | I couldn't go to the party. |
| B1poner → pus- | ¿Dónde pusiste las llaves? | Where did you put the keys? |
| B1querer → quis- | Pablo no quiso venir. | Pablo refused to come. |
| B1saber → sup- | Supe la noticia ayer. | I heard the news yesterday. |
| B1venir → vin- | Mis padres vinieron a verme. | My parents came to see me. |
| B1decir → dij- | ¿Qué te dijo? | What did she tell you? |
| B1traer → traj- | Trajimos un pastel. | We brought a cake. |
- B1A stem in j takes eron in ellos: Me dijeron la verdad. — They told me the truth.
- B1Stem-changing -ir verbs change the stem in él and ellos: e to i, o to u. Ella pidió un café. / Ellos durmieron poco. — She ordered a coffee. / They slept very little.
- Every irregular verb in one table: Irregular Verbs Table.
Spelling: the yo form and -yóB1
| Change | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| buscar → busqué | Te busqué en la fiesta. | I looked for you at the party. |
| llegar → llegué | Llegué tarde a clase. | I was late for class. |
| empezar → empecé | El lunes empecé a trabajar. | On Monday I started work. |
| leer → leyó / leyeron | Ana leyó el libro en un día. | Ana read the book in one day. |
- In yo, verbs in -car, -gar and -zar change their spelling before e: c → qu, g → gu, z → c.
- A vowel before the ending turns i into y in él and ellos: leyó, oyeron.
UseA2–B1
| Use | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| An action finished at a stated past time | Ayer compré pan. | I bought bread yesterday. |
| An event in someone's life | Mi abuelo nació en 1950. | My grandfather was born in 1950. |
| A chain of events | Me levanté, desayuné y salí. | I got up, had breakfast and went out. |
| B1A whole period that is over, with its length | Trabajé dos años en Bogotá. | I worked in Bogotá for two years. |
| B1How an event went as a whole | La fiesta fue genial. | The party was great. |
Signal wordsA2
| Time word | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| ayer, anoche, anteayer | Anoche vimos una película. | Last night we watched a film. |
| el lunes, el fin de semana, la semana pasada, el año pasado | La semana pasada fui a Madrid. | Last week I went to Madrid. |
| en with a year or a month | Llegaron en 2015. | They arrived in 2015. |
| hace with a length of time | Terminé la carrera hace tres años. | I finished my degree three years ago. |
| de repente, luego, después, entonces | De repente, sonó el teléfono. | Suddenly the phone rang. |
| hoy, esta mañana | Esta mañana desayuné temprano. | I had breakfast early this morning. |
Typical errorsA2–B1
| ✗ | ✓ | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Ayer hablo con Ana. | Ayer hablé con Ana. | a finished past action takes the preterite: hablé |
| Ayer he ido al cine. | Ayer fui al cine. | ayer takes the preterite in every variety |
| Yo fuí al mercado. | Yo fui al mercado. | fui / fue / vi / dio have no written accent |
| Ayer tuví un examen. | Ayer tuve un examen. | a new stem ends in e in yo |
| B1Ellos pedieron pizza. | Ellos pidieron pizza. | pedir → pidieron: the stem changes in ellos |
| B1Me dijieron la verdad. | Me dijeron la verdad. | after j, the ending is eron |
| B1Empezé a las nueve. | Empecé a las nueve. | z → c before e |