Preterite Tense

The preterite tense is used to refer to actions that occurred at a fixed point in time or number of times in the past; actions that occurred in a fixed time frame; and sudden changes in emotions or opinions.

subject + verb stem + ending

Verb Endings

Irregular Verbs

There are only four irregular verbs:

Ser - to be
Ir - to go
Dar - to give
Hacer - to do

Stem-Changing Verbs

Verbs ending in -IR that are stem-changing in the present tense also change in the preterite tense.

However, they only change in the third person singular and plural (he/she & they)

E —> I
O —> U

Other Forms of Verb Irregularity

Verbs ending in -gar change

G —> GU ( jugué )

Verbs ending in -car change

C —> QU ( busqué )

Verbs ending in -zar

Z —> C ( almorcé )

Verbs ending in -aer, -eer, -oír, and -oer

Third person singular – ió —> yó
Third person plural – ieron —> yeron

Exceptions to this rule —> traer, atraer

Example Sentences

Fui al colegio ayer y vi mis amigos.

I went to school yesterday and saw my friends.

Quisieron ir al cine para ver una película.

They wanted to go to the cinema to see a film.

Ser	Ir	Estar	Hacer
Fui	Fui	Di	Hice
Fuiste	Fuiste	Diste	Hiciste
Fue	Fue	Dio	Hizo
Fuimos	Fuimos	Dimos	Hicimos
Fuisteis	Fuisteis	Disteis	Hicisteis
Fueron	Fueron	Dieron	Hicieron

Dormir - To Sleep
Dormí
Dormiste
Durmió
Dormimos
Dormisteis
Durmieron

Verbs ending in -AR	Verbs ending in -ER and -IR
é	í
aste	iste
ó	ió
amos	imos
asteis	isteis
aron	ieron