Past Tense - Formas del pretérito

The preterite or past tense is one of the more challenging verb tenses to learn. We will look at this verb structure in depth because it's proper use is critical in order to develop mastery of the Spanish language. There are two principal ways to form the preterite.

Accented forms

The first, regular system has accented endings in the first and third-person singular forms:

hablé	I spoke		comí	I ate		viví	I lived
hablaste	You spoke		comiste	You ate		viviste	You lived
habló	He/She/You spoke		comió	He/She/You ate		vivió	He/She/You lived
hablamos	We spoke		comimos	We ate		vivimos	We lived
hablasteis	You spoke		comisteis	You ate		vivisteis	You lived
hablaron	They spoke		comieron	They ate		vivieron	They lived

Stem-changing -er and -ir ending verbs.

Verbs that end in -er and -ir that also have a stem change in the present tense (such as ei as in pido, eie as in siento and ou as in duermo) have a different stem change in the preterite. In these verbs there are only two stem changes, ei and ou occurring in the third person singular and plural forms.

dormí	I slept		pedí		I asked
dormiste	You slept		pediste		You asked
durmió	He/She/You slept		pidió		He/She/You asked
dormimos	We slept		pedimos		We asked
dormisteis	You slept		pedisteis		You asked
durmieron	They slept		pidieron		They asked

Preterite spelling conventions.

Spelling conventions dictate that a verb with a z before an a or an o changes the z to a c before an e or an i. Likewise, a c before an a or an o changes to qu before an e, and a g before an a or an o changes to a gu before an e or an i..

comencé	I began		pagué	I paid		toqué	I touched
comenzaste	You began		pagaste	You paid		tocaste	You touched
comenzó	He/She/You began		pagó	He/She/You paid		tocó	He/She/You touched
comenzamos	We began		pagamos	We paid		tocamos	We touched
comenzasteis	You began		pagasteis	You paid		tocasteis	You touched
comenzaron	They began		pagaron	They paid		tocaron	They touched

Unaccented forms

The second major system of preterite forms uses irregular stems with unaccented endings. Note that the endings are the same regardless of the type of verb:

estuve	I was		puse	I put		vine	I came
estuviste	You came		pusiste	You put		viniste	You came
estuvo	He/She/You was		puso	He/She/You put		vino	He/She/You came
estuvimos	We were		pusimos	We put		vinimos	We came
estuvisteis	You were		pusisteis	You put		vinisteis	You came
estuvieron	They were		pusieron	They put		vinieron	They came