Preterite Tense: Regular and High-Frequency Irregular Verbs
The preterite tense describes a single completed action at a specific point in the past, formed regularly for -ar, -er and -ir verbs with a written accent on the yo and él/ella/usted endings, alongside high-frequency irregulars such as fui, hice, tuve and dije.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Use the preterite for a single completed action at a specific point in the past (ayer, la semana pasada, en 2019), not for ongoing or repeated past actions.
- Regular -ar endings: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron (hablé, hablaste, habló...). Regular -er/-ir endings: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron (comí, comiste, comió... / viví...).
- Add the written accent on the yo and él/ella/usted forms of regular verbs (hablé/habló, comí/comió) - dropping this accent is a marked error because it can confuse the tense with another form.
- Learn the completely irregular stems, which take no accent: ser and ir share the identical form fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron; hacer becomes hice, hiciste, hizo (c changes to z before o to keep the soft sound), hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron; tener becomes tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron; estar becomes estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron; decir becomes dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron (note dijeron, not dijieron).
- For -ir stem-changing verbs (pedir, dormir, sentir, preferir, morir), the stem change only appears in the él/ella and ellos/ellas forms: pidió/pidieron, durmió/durmieron, prefirió/prefirieron.
- Watch the -car/-gar/-zar spelling changes, which apply only in the yo form: buscar -> busqué, llegar -> llegué, empezar -> empecé, to keep the consonant sound.
- Combine time markers (ayer, anoche, el fin de semana pasado, hace dos años) with the preterite to signal the tense clearly.
Worked example
Put the verbs in brackets into the preterite tense: El sábado pasado, mis amigos y yo (ir) al centro comercial. Yo (comprar) unos zapatos nuevos y mi amiga Sara (hacer) unas fotos. Después, nosotros (comer) en un restaurante y ella (pedir) paella.
- ir is irregular and shares its form with ser; the subject mis amigos y yo needs the nosotros form fuimos.
- comprar is a regular -ar verb, and the subject is yo, so it needs the accented ending -é: compré.
- hacer is irregular with the stem hic-; the subject is mi amiga Sara (ella), so the correct form is hizo, with c changing to z before o.
- comer is a regular -er verb; nosotros needs the ending -imos, giving comimos.
- pedir is an e-i stem-changing -ir verb; because the subject is ella, the stem change appears in the third person: pidió, not pedió.
- Full answer: El sábado pasado, mis amigos y yo fuimos al centro comercial. Yo compré unos zapatos nuevos y mi amiga Sara hizo unas fotos. Después, nosotros comimos en un restaurante y ella pidió paella.
Practice questions
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Q1Give the yo form of hacer in the preterite.Show answer
Answer: Hice.
Q2Complete: Ellos ___ (estar) en Madrid el año pasado.Show answer
Answer: Estuvieron.
Q3Why does hablé need a written accent but hablo does not?Show answer
Answer: The accent on hablé marks the preterite yo form (I spoke); without it, hablo would be read as the present tense (I speak) - the accent changes both meaning and tense.
Q4Give the él form of dormir in the preterite.Show answer
Answer: Durmió (the o-u stem change appears only in the third person).
Q5Translate: 'We went to the beach last summer.'Show answer
Answer: Fuimos a la playa el verano pasado.
Q6Correct the error: 'Ayer yo jugé al fútbol con mis amigos.'Show answer
Answer: Jugué, not jugé (the u keeps the g sound hard before é), so: Ayer yo jugué al fútbol con mis amigos.
Q7Give the yo form of decir in the preterite.Show answer
Answer: Dije.
Q8Complete: Mi hermana ___ (tener) un accidente la semana pasada.Show answer
Answer: Tuvo.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate into Spanish: 1) Last year I went to Spain with my family. 2) We stayed in a small hotel near the beach. 3) I did a lot of activities and I ate delicious food. 4) My brother said that the trip was fantastic.
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Lee el texto y contesta en inglés. Texto: El verano pasado, Marina fue de vacaciones a Portugal con sus abuelos. Viajaron en coche y tardaron seis horas en llegar. Cuando llegaron, hizo mucho calor, así que fueron directamente a la piscina del hotel. Marina nadó durante dos horas y luego comió un helado enorme. Por la noche, sus abuelos la llevaron a un restaurante donde probó pulpo por primera vez, pero no le gustó nada. (a) Who did Marina go on holiday with, and where? (b) How did they travel, and how long did the journey take? (c) What did they do as soon as they arrived, and why? (d) What did Marina try for the first time, and what did she think of it?
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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