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Past tenses: preterite and imperfect

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Notes de leçon

Regular preterite forms

  • For -ar verbs, use -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. For -er/-ir verbs, use -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Keep accents: hablé and habló identify different people.
  • The preterite can present one event, a series or a long bounded period as a completed whole. It is not limited to brief actions, and repeated events can also use it: jugué tres partidos.

Regular preterite forms

Regular preterite formsSubjecthablarcomeryohablécomítúhablastecomisteél/ella/ustedhablócomiónosotros/ashablamoscomimosvosotros/ashablasteiscomisteisellos/as/ustedeshablaroncomieron

Irregular preterites

  • Ser and ir share fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Identify meaning from the sentence: fui al parque involves going; fui presidente concerns being in a completed period.
  • Other useful forms are hice/hizo, tuve, estuve, dije/dijeron and vi. Vi and vio have no written accent; dijeron has -eron after dij-, so avoid inventing dijieron.

Selected irregular preterites

Selected irregular preteritesVerbyoél/ella/ustedellos/as/ustedesser / irfuifuefueronhacerhicehizohicierontenertuvetuvotuvieronestarestuveestuvoestuvierondecirdijedijodijeronverviviovieron

Preterite spelling and leer

  • In the yo preterite, buscar gives busqué, llegar gives llegué and empezar gives empecé. The change occurs before the ending -é; do not transfer that spelling mechanically to buscó, llegó or empezó.
  • Leer has leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron. Distinguish these forms from the ordinary -car/-gar/-zar spelling examples rather than applying one rule to every verb.

Keep the sound in the yo preterite

Keep the sound in the yo preteriteInfinitiveyo preteriteOther personbuscarbusquébuscóllegarlleguéllegóempezarempecéempezóleerleíleyó

Regular and irregular imperfect

  • For -ar verbs use -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For -er/-ir use -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Preserve accents such as hablábamos and comíamos.
  • Use it for past habits and background in an appropriate account: jugaba cada sábado; hacía sol. This viewpoint does not claim the event never finished or that every description and repeated action must use imperfect.
  • Learn ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran; ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban; ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían.
  • A yo form can match an él/ella/usted form, so use the subject or context. Accents remain essential in éramos, íbamos and the forms of veía.

Regular imperfect forms

Regular imperfect formsSubjecthablarcomeryohablabacomíatúhablabascomíasél/ella/ustedhablabacomíanosotros/ashablábamoscomíamosvosotros/ashablabaiscomíaisellos/as/ustedeshablabancomían

Viewpoint in a past narrative

  • Llovía cuando llegué views rain as ongoing and the arrival as a completed event. De pequeño jugaba al fútbol presents a habit, while jugué tres partidos presents a completed series.
  • A different tense can be grammatical with a different viewpoint: llovió todo el día presents a completed period. Read the whole account instead of assuming weather means imperfect or repetition means imperfect.

Viewpoint changes the account

Viewpoint changes the accountExamplePresented viewLlovía cuando lleguéOngoing rain + completed arrivalLlovió todo el díaRain viewed as a completed periodJugaba cada sábadoPast habit viewed from withinJugué tres partidosThree games as a completed series

Using both tenses in an account

  • El fin de semana pasado fui al parque. Hacía sol cuando llegué. Jugué al fútbol con mis amigos. This is an invented account; other appropriate past situations are valid.
  • Identify the completed events fui, llegué and jugué, and background hacía sol. Check subject endings, irregular forms and accents rather than adding a second tense merely to fill a checklist.

Identify the forms in a fictional account

Identify the forms in a fictional accountFormRolefui al parqueCompleted triphacía solBackground weathercuando lleguéCompleted arrivaljugué al fútbolCompleted activity in the account

Haber and the participle

  • Use he, has, ha, hemos, habéis or han with a participle: he comido, ha visto. Regular participles end in -ado or -ido; useful irregulars include hecho, visto and escrito.
  • With haber, the participle does not agree with the object: he visto las películas. Use of he comido compared with comí varies by region and context; do not impose one English have rule on all Spanish speakers.

Haber plus participle

Haber plus participleSubjectExampleyohe comidotúhas comidoél/ella/ustedha vistonosotros/ashemos hechovosotros/ashabéis escritoellos/as/ustedeshan comido

Time expressions in context

  • Ayer is yesterday; anoche last night; la semana pasada last week; de pequeño when little; a menudo often; normalmente normally. They locate or characterise the account.
  • Anoche llegué tarde and anoche llovía are both possible: one reports an event, the other gives ongoing background. The time phrase does not select the tense without the rest of the sentence.

Read the whole sentence

Read the whole sentenceExampleRoleAnoche llegué tardeCompleted arrival lastnightAnoche llovíaOngoing rain last nightNormalmente jugabaHabit with imperfectviewpointEl lunes pasado fui alparqueCompleted visit last Monday

Diapos

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  1. 1.What is the preterite of "hablar" (ella)?

    Easy
    • Ahabló
    • Bhablé
    • Chablaba
    • Dhablará

  2. 2.What is the preterite of "comer" (nosotros)?

    Easy
    • Acomemos
    • Bcomíamos
    • Ccomeremos
    • Dcomimos

  3. 3.What is the preterite of "vivir" (ellos)?

    Easy
    • Aviven
    • Bvivirán
    • Cvivieron
    • Dvivían

  4. 4.What is the preterite of "ir" (yo)?

    Easy
    • Airé
    • Bfui
    • Ciba
    • Dvoy

  5. 5.What is the preterite of "ser" (tú)?

    Easy
    • Afuiste
    • Beras
    • Ceres
    • Dserás

  6. 6.What is the preterite of "hacer" (él)?

    Easy
    • Ahacía
    • Bhace
    • Chará
    • Dhizo

  7. 7.What is the preterite of "tener" (yo)?

    Easy
    • Atengo
    • Btendré
    • Ctuve
    • Dtenía

  8. 8.What is the preterite of "estar" (yo)?

    Easy
    • Aestaré
    • Bestuve
    • Cestaba
    • Destoy

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