The Preterite Tense
El Pretérito Indefinido
The go-to tense for talking about completed past actions. "I ate," "She went," "They said" — that's the preterite.
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for completed actions in the past, especially when you can point to when it happened or see it as a single event. Think of it as taking a snapshot of the past.
Regular Conjugation Patterns
| Person | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | hablé |
| tú | -aste | hablaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | -ó | habló |
| nosotros | -amos | hablamos |
| vosotros | -asteis | hablasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -aron | hablaron |
| Person | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -í | comí / viví |
| tú | -iste | comiste / viviste |
| él/ella/Ud. | -ió | comió / vivió |
| nosotros | -imos | comimos / vivimos |
| vosotros | -isteis | comisteis / vivisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | -ieron | comieron / vivieron |
💡 Note: The nosotros form is the same in preterite and present for -AR and -IR verbs. Context tells you which tense is meant!
Common Irregular Verbs
These high-frequency verbs have unique preterite stems.
| Verb | yo | tú | él | nos. | vos. | ellos | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ser/ir | fui | fuiste | fue | fuimos | fuisteis | fueron | Identical conjugations! |
| estar | estuve | estuviste | estuvo | estuvimos | estuvisteis | estuvieron | Stem: estuv- |
| tener | tuve | tuviste | tuvo | tuvimos | tuvisteis | tuvieron | Stem: tuv- |
| hacer | hice | hiciste | hizo | hicimos | hicisteis | hicieron | c→z in él/ella |
| poder | pude | pudiste | pudo | pudimos | pudisteis | pudieron | Stem: pud- |
| decir | dije | dijiste | dijo | dijimos | dijisteis | dijeron | Stem: dij- |
When to Use the Preterite
Completed actions
Ayer comí tacos.
Yesterday I ate tacos.
Specific time reference
Llegué a las tres.
I arrived at three.
Chain of events
Me levanté, me duché y desayuné.
I got up, showered, and had breakfast.
Beginning/end of action
La película empezó a las ocho.
The movie started at eight.
Sudden changes
De repente, se fue la luz.
Suddenly, the power went out.
Time Markers (Trigger Words)
These words and phrases often signal that you should use the preterite:
Preterite vs Imperfect
Preterite ✓
- • Completed actions with clear endpoint
- • Specific times or dates
- • Sequences of events
- • Interrupting actions
- • "Snapshot" of the past
Ayer comí pizza.
Yesterday I ate pizza. (done)
Imperfect ✓
- • Ongoing past actions (no endpoint)
- • Habitual/repeated actions
- • Descriptions & background info
- • Age, time, weather in past
- • "Video" of the past
De niño, comía pizza cada viernes.
As a kid, I ate pizza every Friday. (habitual)
Working together: The imperfect sets the scene (background), while the preterite moves the story forward (actions).
"Mientras dormía (imperfect), sonó el teléfono (preterite)."
While I was sleeping, the phone rang.
Master the Preterite Through Practice
Reading about tenses helps, but drilling conjugations builds real fluency. VerbDojo uses spaced repetition to make the preterite second nature.
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