The Animated Book
of SpanishGrammar Reference

The Spanish Preterite Tense

Adapted from The Animated Book of Spanish, an interactive Spanish grammar book.

The preterite (el pretérito) is the Spanish past tense for completed actions: things that happened and are over. Hablé means “I spoke,” and comí means “I ate.”
Preterite of the regular verbs hablar (to speak), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live), with endings highlighted
Subject-AR verbs: hablar-ER verbs: comer-IR verbs: vivir
yohablécomíviví
túhablastecomisteviviste
él / ella / ustedhablócomióvivió
nosotroshablamoscomimosvivimos
vosotroshablasteiscomisteisvivisteis
ellos / ellas / ustedeshablaroncomieronvivieron
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When to use the preterite

Use the preterite when you see an action as finished: it happened, and it's over. It's the tense for telling what happened.

  1. Finished actions

    Things that happened at a specific time in the past.

    • Ayer comí con mis padres.

      I ate with my parents yesterday.

    • Llegamos a Madrid el lunes.

      We arrived in Madrid on Monday.

  2. A series of events

    One thing after another, the way you’d tell a story.

    • Me levanté, me duché y salí de casa.

      I got up, took a shower, and left the house.

    • Abrió la puerta y entró.

      She opened the door and came in.

  3. Something that lasted a set amount of time

    Even long actions, as long as they have a clear beginning and end.

    • Viví en Chile dos años.

      I lived in Chile for two years.

    • La película duró tres horas.

      The movie lasted three hours.

  4. Something that interrupted

    The action that cut in while something else was going on.

    • Estaba en la ducha cuando sonó el teléfono.

      I was in the shower when the phone rang.

    • Mientras cocinaba, se fue la luz.

      While I was cooking, the power went out.

Words like these often go with the preterite. They're a good hint, but not a rule: what matters is whether you see the action as finished.

  • ayeryesterday
  • anochelast night
  • la semana pasadalast week
  • el año pasadolast year
  • hace dos díastwo days ago
  • de repentesuddenly

Irregular stems

Some of the most common verbs in Spanish use a new stem in the preterite. They all share their own set of endings, and none of them take an accent.

Endings for preterite verbs with irregular stems, shown with tener (tuv-)
Endingtener → tuv‑
yo‑etuve
tú‑istetuviste
él / ella / usted‑otuvo
nosotros‑imostuvimos
vosotros‑isteistuvisteis
ellos / ellas / ustedes‑ierontuvieron

The new stems fall into three groups, named for the letter that stands out.

u stems

Preterite of tener (to have)
yotuve
nosotrostuvimos
tútuviste
vosotrostuvisteis
él / ella / ustedtuvo
ellos / ellas / ustedestuvieron

  • Tuve que trabajar el sábado.

    I had to work on Saturday.

  • ¿Dónde estuviste anoche?

    Where were you last night?

i stems

Preterite of hacer (to do, make)
yohice
nosotroshicimos
túhiciste
vosotroshicisteis
él / ella / ustedhizo
ellos / ellas / ustedeshicieron

The c changes to z in hizo to keep the same sound.

  • ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?

    What did you do on the weekend?

  • Mis primos vinieron a cenar.

    My cousins came over for dinner.

j stems

The ellos form ends in ‑eron, not ‑ieron.

Preterite of decir (to say, tell)
yodije
nosotrosdijimos
túdijiste
vosotrosdijisteis
él / ella / usteddijo
ellos / ellas / ustedesdijeron

  • ¿Qué te dijo?

    What did she tell you?

  • Trajeron pasteles para todos.

    They brought cakes for everyone.

Ser and ir

Ser and ir have the exact same preterite forms. Fui can mean I was or I went, and the rest of the sentence always makes it clear.

Preterite of ser / ir (to be / to go)
yofui
nosotrosfuimos
túfuiste
vosotrosfuisteis
él / ella / ustedfue
ellos / ellas / ustedesfueron
ser / ir · to be / to go

No accents anywhere: fui, fue.

  • Fui al médico ayer.

    I went to the doctor yesterday.

  • La fiesta fue increíble.

    The party was amazing.

  • ¿Adónde fueron de vacaciones?

    Where did you all go on vacation?

Dar and ver

Dar and ver are short and nearly regular. Dar takes the ‑er / ‑ir endings even though it's an ‑ar verb, and neither one takes an accent.

Preterite of dar (to give)
yodi
nosotrosdimos
túdiste
vosotrosdisteis
él / ella / usteddio
ellos / ellas / ustedesdieron

  • Te di mi número, ¿no?

    I gave you my number, didn’t I?

  • ¿Viste el partido anoche?

    Did you watch the game last night?

Stem-changing ‑ir verbs

In the preterite, only ‑ir verbs change their stem, and only in the él and ellos forms. If an ‑ir verb is a boot verb in the present, it changes here too: e → i or o → u. That includes verbs that are e → ie in the present, like sentir (sintió) and preferir (prefirió).

e to i

Preterite of pedir (to ask for, order)
yopedí
nosotrospedimos
túpediste
vosotrospedisteis
él / ella / ustedpidió
ellos / ellas / ustedespidieron

Only the shaded él and ellos forms change. The rest are regular.

  • ¿Qué pidieron tus amigos?

    What did your friends order?

  • Mi hermana prefirió quedarse en casa.

    My sister preferred to stay home.

o to u

Just two verbs, and they’re both common.

Preterite of dormir (to sleep)
yodormí
nosotrosdormimos
túdormiste
vosotrosdormisteis
él / ella / usteddurmió
ellos / ellas / ustedesdurmieron

Only the shaded él and ellos forms change. The rest are regular.

  • El bebé durmió toda la noche.

    The baby slept through the night.

  • Mi abuelo murió en 2010.

    My grandfather died in 2010.

Spelling-change verbs

Some verbs change a letter in one or two forms, just like in the present tense. The ‑car, ‑gar, and ‑zar changes only affect yo, because that's the only form that ends in é.

c to q u

Verbs ending in ‑car. Before é, a c would sound like s, so it becomes qu.

Preterite of buscar (to look for)
yobusqué
nosotrosbuscamos
túbuscaste
vosotrosbuscasteis
él / ella / ustedbuscó
ellos / ellas / ustedesbuscaron

Only the shaded yo form changes its spelling. The rest are regular.

  • Te busqué por todas partes.

    I looked for you everywhere.

  • Saqué muchas fotos en el viaje.

    I took lots of photos on the trip.

g to g u

Verbs ending in ‑gar. Before é, a g would sound like the Spanish j, so a silent u keeps it hard.

Preterite of llegar (to arrive)
yollegué
nosotrosllegamos
túllegaste
vosotrosllegasteis
él / ella / ustedllegó
ellos / ellas / ustedesllegaron

Only the shaded yo form changes its spelling. The rest are regular.

  • Llegué tarde al trabajo.

    I got to work late.

  • Ya pagué la cuenta.

    I already paid the bill.

z to c

Verbs ending in ‑zar. Spanish almost never writes z before e, so it becomes c. The sound stays the same.

Preterite of empezar (to start)
yoempecé
nosotrosempezamos
túempezaste
vosotrosempezasteis
él / ella / ustedempezó
ellos / ellas / ustedesempezaron

Only the shaded yo form changes its spelling. The rest are regular.

  • Empecé a estudiar español el año pasado.

    I started studying Spanish last year.

  • Almorcé con mis compañeros.

    I had lunch with my coworkers.

i to y

Verbs whose stem ends in a vowel, like leer, creer, oír, and construir. The i between two vowels becomes y in él and ellos.

Preterite of leer (to read)
yoleí
nosotrosleímos
túleíste
vosotrosleísteis
él / ella / ustedleyó
ellos / ellas / ustedesleyeron

The other forms take an accent on the í: leíste, leímos.

The shaded él and ellos forms use a y instead of an i.

  • No me creyó.

    She didn’t believe me.

  • ¿Oyeron eso?

    Did you all hear that?

Verbs that change meaning in the preterite

A few verbs describe a state in the present, but in the preterite they describe the moment something happened. In English, that often calls for a different verb.

Verbs whose English meaning changes in the preterite
VerbPresentPreterite
conocerto know (someone)to meet
saberto know (a fact)to find out
quererto wantto try
no quererto not wantto refuse
poderto be able toto manage to
no poderto not be able toto fail to

For side-by-side examples in the imperfect and the preterite, see preterite vs imperfect.

Common mistakes English speakers make

  1. Dropping the accent

    Incorrect:Ayer mi hermana hablo con el profesor.
    Correct:Ayer mi hermana habló con el profesor.

    Without the accent, hablo means I speak. The accent on habló moves the stress to the end, and that's what makes it past.

  2. Using regular endings on an irregular stem

    Incorrect:Ayer tení que trabajar.
    Correct:Ayer tuve que trabajar.

    Tener uses the stem tuv‑ and the irregular endings: tuve, tuviste, tuvo.

  3. Adding an accent to an irregular form

    Incorrect:Mi padre hizó la cena.
    Correct:Mi padre hizo la cena.

    Verbs with an irregular stem never take an accent in the preterite: hice, hizo, tuvo, dijo.

  4. Saying dijieron

    Incorrect:Me dijieron que no.
    Correct:Me dijeron que no.

    After a j, the ellos ending is ‑eron, not ‑ieron: dijeron, trajeron, condujeron.

  5. Keeping the present-tense stem change

    Incorrect:Ayer piensé en ti.
    Correct:Ayer pensé en ti.

    Boot verbs ending in ‑ar or ‑er don't change in the preterite. Only ‑ir verbs do, and only in él and ellos.

Questions about the preterite

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect?

Both are past tenses. The preterite is for actions you see as finished: what happened (Comí a las dos). The imperfect is for the background: what was going on, what used to happen, and descriptions (Comía cuando llamaste).

Many sentences use both: the imperfect sets the scene and the preterite tells you what happened.

Why are ser and ir the same in the preterite?

Centuries ago, ir borrowed its past forms from ser, so today fui means both "I was" and "I went." In practice it's rarely confusing: fui a la playa ("I went to the beach") vs. fui profesor ("I was a teacher").

Do irregular preterite verbs have accents?

No. Verbs with an irregular stem (tuve, hice, dije, pude) never take an accent in the preterite, and neither do fui, fue, di, dio, vi, and vio. The accents only show up on regular forms: hablé, habló, comí, comió.

Is hablamos present or past?

Both. For -ar and -ir verbs, the nosotros form is the same in the present and the preterite: hablamos can mean "we speak" or "we spoke," and vivimos "we live" or "we lived." Context, and words like ayer, make it clear. -er verbs are different: comemos ("we eat") vs. comimos ("we ate").

What is the preterite called in Spanish?

Spanish grammar books call it el pretérito perfecto simple or el pretérito indefinido. They're two names for the same tense.

Next upThe imperfectHabits, descriptions, and what was going on.

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