SIMPLE PAST / PRETÉRITO PERFECTO

The Simple Past – Pretério Perfecto – is used to refer to actions that happened or were completed in a recent past. The Simple Past refers to completed actions that have a definite beginning and a definite end.

In lesson about Present Tense you saw that in Spanish there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in “ar”, verbs ending in “er”, verbs ending in “ir”. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of termination when conjugated.

When conjugating regular verbs in the simple past form, you just have to preserve the root of the verb and substitute the terminations “ar”, “er” or “ir” for the following bold terminations:

 Examples:

·         (Yo) amé. (I loved.)

·         (Tú) amaste. (You loved.)

·         Ella amó. (She loved.)

·         Él amó. (He loved.)

·         Usted amó. (You loved - formal)

·         (Nosotros) amamos. (We loved.)

·         Ellos amaron. (They loved.)

·         Ustedes amaron. (You loved - formal)

For verbs ending in “gar” and “car”, the first person “yo” is conjugated using the termination “gué” and “qué”, as you can observe in the chart below.

 Examples:

·         (Yo) llegué. (I arrived.)

·         (Tú) llegaste. (You arrived.)

·         Ella llegó. (She arrived.)

·         Él llegó. (He arrived.)

·         Usted llegó. (You arrived - formal)

·         (Nosotros) llegamos. (We l arrived.)

·         Ellos llegaron. (They arrived.)

·         Ustedes llegaron. (You arrived - formal)

For verbs ending in “zar” the first person “yo” is conjugated using the termination “cé”, as you can observe in the chart below.

Examples:

·         (Yo) empecé a estudiar español. (I started studying Spanish.)

·         (Tú) empezaste a estudiar español. (You started studying Spanish.)

·         Ella empezó a estudiar español. (She started studying Spanish.)

·         Él empezó a estudiar español. (He started studying Spanish.)

·         Usted empezó a estudiar español. (You started studying Spanish - formal)

·         (Nosotros) empezamos a estudiar español. (We started studying Spanish.)

·         Ellos empezaron a estudiar español. (They started studying Spanish.)

·         Ustedes empezaron a estudiar español. (You started studying Spanish - formal)

Vowels changes

Some verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “o” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Past tense. The vowel “o” is changed for “u”, for the third person of the singular (él, ella, ud) and plural (ellos, ellas, uds).    

Some verbs ending in “ir” having the vowel “e” at the second-to-the-last syllable have the root changed when they are conjugated in the Past tense. The vowel “e” is changed for “i”, for the third person of the singular (él, ella, ud) and plural (ellos, ellas, uds).  

Study the chart below:

Examples:

•  Ayer yo me dormí tarde. – Yesterday I slept late.
• Usted vistió su ropa nueva ayer?  – Did you wear your new clothe yesterday?

Some verbs ending in “ducir” or in “aer” have a “j” added to the termination of the verb conjugated, and the vowel “i” is excluded for the last person of the plural.

Examples:

·         (Yo) traduje. (I translated.)

·         (Tú) tradujiste. (You translated.)

·         Ella tradujo. (She translated.)

·         Él tradujo. (He translated.)

·         Usted tradujo. (You translated -  formal)

·         (Nosotros) tradujimos. (We translated.)

·         Ellos tradujeron. (They translated.)

·         Ustedes tradujeron. (You translated - formal)

Some Irregular Verbs

Examples:

·         (Yo) fui a Barcelona. (I went to Barcelona.)

·         (Tú) fuiste a Barcelona. (You went to Barcelona.)

·         Ella fue a Barcelona. (She went to Barcelona.)

·         Él fue a Barcelona. (He went to Barcelona.)

·         Usted fue a Barcelona. (You went to Barcelona -  formal)

·         (Nosotros) fuimos a Barcelona. (We went to Barcelona.)

·         Ellos fueron a Barcelona. (They went to Barcelona.)

·         Ustedes fueron a Barcelona. (You went to Barcelona  - formal)

More Irregular Verbs