El pretérito es un tiempo pasado simple en español que se usa para acciones completadas en el pasado, eventos vistos como únicos, acciones repetidas un número específico de veces o durante un período determinado, y para indicar el inicio o fin de una acción. Se forma de manera regular o irregular dependiendo del verbo, y existen algunas reglas específicas para grupos de verbos como los que terminan en AR, ER, IR, entre otros.

1. THE PRETERITE TENSE www.studyspanish.com A simple past tense in Spanish

2. What is the preterite tense?

3. The preterite is a simple past tense in Spanish. It is used for:

4. An action completed in the past Ayer le escribí una carta a mi mamá. Yesterday I wrote a letter to my mom.

5. An action viewed as a single event in the past Ellos llegaron a las ocho. They arrived at 8:00.

6. Actions that were repeated a specific number of times Anteayer llamé a mi novio tres veces. The day before yesterday I called my boyfriend three times.

7. Actions that occurred during a specific period of time Nosotros trabajamos en la librería por dos años. We worked at the library for two years.

8. Actions that were a part of a chain of events Ella se levantó, se vistió, y salió de la casa. She got up, got dressed, and left the house.

9. Stating the beginning or end of an action. Empezó a nevar a las cuatro de la tarde. It began to snow at 4:00 p.m.

10. How is the preterite formed?

19. For verbs that end in AER, EER, OIR, and OER, the él,/ella/usted form uses the ending yó (rather than ió). The third person plural uses the ending yeron (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter i .

21. AR and ER verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the preterite. They are conjugated just like other regular preterite verbs.

22. IR verbs that change their stem in the present tense do change in the preterite, but in a different way. They change e -> i and o -> u in the third person, singular and plural.

25. The following verbs are irregular in the preterite and must be memorized: Ver (to see) Traer (to bring) Decir (to say; to tell)