1. Regular verbs

* For the 1st group verbs ending in – AR, the endings are: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, asteis, aron.

Example with the verb CANTAR (To sing):

– Yo canté
– Tú cantaste
– Él/Ella/Usted cantó
– Nosotros cantamos
– Vosotros cantasteis
– Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes cantaron

* For verbs of the 2nd and 3rd group ending in -IR or -ER, the endings are : -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.

Example with the verb VIVIR (To live):

– Yo viví
– Tú viviste
– Él/Ella/Usted vivió
– Nosotros vivimos
– Vosotros vivisteis
– Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes vivieron

* For verbs ending in -UIR, -OIR, -AER, -EER, OER: the “i” in the 3rd person (singular and plural) becomes “y”.

Example :

• CONCLUIR (To conclude) ==> concluí, concluiste, concluyó, concluimos, concluisteis, concluyeron.
• LEER (To read) ==> leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron.

2. Essential irregular verbs

There are many irregular verbs in the simple past tense, the most common of which are

ANDAR (To walk) ==> anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron.
IR (To go) ==> fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron.
VENIR (To come) ==> vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron.
DAR (To give) ==> di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron.
HABER (To have) ==> hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron.
HACER (To do) ==> hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron.
QUERER (To want/love) ==> quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron.
SER (To be) ==> fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron.
TENER (To have/possess) ==> tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron.
TRAER (To bring) ==> traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron.
PODER (Can) ==> pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron.
DECIR (To tell) ==> dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron.
ESTAR (To be) ==> estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron.
SABER (To know) ==> supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron.
CABER (To hold/return) ==> cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron.
PONER (To put) ==> puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.

N.B : These irregular verbs have no written accent.

II. Use of the preterite

In Spanish, the preterite is used a lot when speaking:

The preterite (pretérito perfecto) is used to talk about a past action that is completely finished.

Example :

– La semana pasada, comí con mi amigo Pablo ==> Last week, I ate with my friend Pablo.
– Cantó una canción ==> He sang a song.
– Tuvimos un problema durante el viaje ==> We had a problem during the trip.
– Hace 5 años, fui a vivir a Italia ==> 5 years ago, I went to live in Italy.

N.B: We notice that the preterite in Spanish is very often translated into English using the simple past tense.

Reminder: in Spanish, the past tense is used to talk about a past action that is not finished, or an action that took place today.

Example :

Hoy he hecho deporte con mi amigo ==> Today I played sports with my friend
El año pasado, he empezado las clases de español ==> Last year, I started Spanish classes.

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