The Preterite Tense USES To talk about specific

The Preterite Tense

USES To talk about specific actions completed at a specific time in the past. Example: Ayer yo fui al cine. Yesterday I went to the movies. Ø

Ø To talk about successive completed events. Example: Esta mañana yo me desperté a las cinco, me levanté a las cinco y diez, me duché, me vestí, me cepillé los dientes y salí para la escuela. This morning I woke up, got up, showerd, got dressed…etc.

Ø The beginning and end of certain states or situations. Example: La clase empezó a las siete. The class began at seven. Example: Después de la cena, ella se durmió. After dinner she fell asleep.

Expressions Used to Help Identify the Preterite Tense ayer – yesterday Ø anteayer- the day before yesterday Ø anoche – last night Ø la semana pasada – last week Ø el año pasado- last year Ø el fin de semana pasado – last weekend Ø

hace + time expression “ago” Yo viajé a España hace 2 años. I traveled to Spain two years ago.

How do I conjugate in the Preterite Tense? ü It’s easy! You follow the same rules as the present tense. Take the infinitive: hablar ü Drop the ending ü You are left with the stem ü Add the preterite endings to the stem and you are done! ü

Preterite Tense Endings “-AR” VERBS -amos -é -asteis -aron -ó

comprar – to buy compré compramos comprasteis compró compraron

“car, gar & zar verbs" n Verbs that end in “-gar, -car, -zar” have a spelling change before the -é ending of the “yo” form. n c qu g gu z c n There are no stem changes in ”-ar” verbs of the preterite tense.

buscar – to look for busqué buscamos buscasteis buscó buscaron

pagar – to pay pagué pagamos pagasteis pagó pagaron

empezar – to begin empecé empezamos empezasteis empezó empezaron

jugar – to play jugué jugamos jugasteis jugó jugaron

Conjugating reflexives n Same rules for reflexives: levantarse n Remove the “se” n Drop the ending n Add the endings to the stem n Me levanté / te levantaste n

Conjugating in the Preterite Tense Same rules for “gustar” n The verb “gustar” is used the same way it is used in the present tense. n You use third person singular and plural forms. n gustó / gustaron n

Conjugating in the Preterite Tense Me gustó la película ayer. n¿Te gustaron los libros que comrpaste anoche? n