A2 · Elementary

The regular preterite (pretérito indefinido)

The past tense for completed events: regular -ar, -er and -ir forms.

Formation: -ar verbs

You use the pretérito indefinido (often just called el indefinido) for an action that happened at a specific moment in the past and is finished. For -ar verbs, replace the -ar ending with:

  • yo: -é
  • tú: -aste
  • él/ella/usted: -ó
  • nosotros/as: -amos
  • vosotros/as: -asteis
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes: -aron

Note the accent on -é and -ó: it changes the stress and therefore the meaning (hablo = I speak now, habló = he/she spoke).

hablartrabajarcomprar
yohablétrabajécompré
túhablastetrabajastecompraste
él/ella/ustedhablótrabajócompró
nosotros/ashablamostrabajamoscompramos
vosotros/ashablasteistrabajasteiscomprasteis
ellos/ellas/ustedeshablarontrabajaroncompraron

Examples

Ayer hablé con mi madre por teléfono.Yesterday I spoke with my mother on the phone.
Mis padres trabajaron mucho ese año.My parents worked a lot that year.
¿Compraste el regalo para Ana?Did you buy the gift for Ana?

Formation: -er and -ir verbs

-er and -ir verbs take the same endings in the indefinido. Replace -er/-ir with:

  • yo: -í
  • tú: -iste
  • él/ella/usted: -ió
  • nosotros/as: -imos
  • vosotros/as: -isteis
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes: -ieron

The nosotros form of -ir verbs (e.g. vivimos) looks identical to the present tense — context tells you which one is meant.

comervivirescribir
yocomívivíescribí
túcomistevivisteescribiste
él/ella/ustedcomióvivióescribió
nosotros/ascomimosvivimosescribimos
vosotros/ascomisteisvivisteisescribisteis
ellos/ellas/ustedescomieronvivieronescribieron

Examples

Comimos paella en la playa.We ate paella on the beach.
Ella vivió dos años en Madrid.She lived in Madrid for two years.
Te escribí un correo ayer.I wrote you an email yesterday.

Spelling changes in the yo form

For verbs ending in -car, -gar and -zar, the spelling changes only in the yo form, to keep the consonant sound:

  • -car → -qué: buscar → busqué, tocar → toqué, sacar → saqué
  • -gar → -gué: llegar → llegué, jugar → jugué, pagar → pagué
  • -zar → -cé: empezar → empecé, almorzar → almorcé, cruzar → crucé

All other forms (tú, él, nosotros...) stay fully regular.

Examples

Busqué mis llaves por todas partes.I looked for my keys everywhere.
Llegué tarde a la reunión.I arrived late to the meeting.
Empecé el curso de español en enero.I started the Spanish course in January.
Jugué al fútbol con mis amigos.I played football with my friends.

Time markers

The indefinido almost always appears with an expression that says when something happened, and that moment is closed:

  • ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), anteayer (the day before yesterday)
  • la semana pasada, el mes pasado, el año pasado (last week/month/year)
  • en 2020, en enero, el 5 de mayo
  • hace dos días / hace un año (two days / a year ago)
  • una vez (once), de repente (suddenly)

When you spot one of these, the indefinido is usually the right choice.

Examples

El año pasado viajamos a México.Last year we traveled to Mexico.
Anoche cenamos en un restaurante nuevo.Last night we had dinner at a new restaurant.
Hace tres años terminé mis estudios.Three years ago I finished my studies.

💡 Tips

💡
For the yo form of -car/-gar/-zar verbs, think about the sound: writing plain -cé, -gé or -cé would change how the consonant sounds (e.g. *jugé* would sound like 'juhé'). The extra letter (qu, gu) protects the sound.
💡
Don't confuse *hablo* (now) with *habló* (then) — the accent mark is the only difference, but it changes the whole meaning.
💡
-ar and -ir verbs share the same nosotros form in the present and the indefinido (e.g. *hablamos*, *vivimos*). Only the context tells you which tense is meant.

🎯 Practise this topic with 10 interactive exercises (10)

🔧 Verbs: Preterite

Related grammar

The irregular preterite (pretérito indefinido)
The most common verbs are irregular in the indefinido: ser/ir, tener, hacer, decir and more.
The imperfect past (pretérito imperfecto)
The past tense for habits, descriptions and background — almost always regular.
Indefinido versus imperfecto
Two past tenses, one choice: what happened (indefinido) versus what the situation was (imperfecto)?
The present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
The past tense for recent events with an effect on now: haber + past participle.

← DemonstrativesThe irregular preterite (pretérito indefinido) →

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