Regular Verbs in Spanish Preterite Tense

The Spanish Preterite (Pretérito Indefinido) is used to talk about actions that started and ended in the past. In this article, we are going to see how to form regular verbs in Spanish Preterite tense.

Spanish verbs are conjugated depending on their endings (-ar, –er, –ir). The Spanish Preterite tense has the same endings for the last two endings (-er and –ir).

Preterite –Ar Verbs

Form the Spanish Preterite tense by removing –ar and adding the following endings.

Cantar	Hablar	Bailar
Canté Cantaste Cantó Cantamos Cantasteis Cantaron	Hablé Hablaste Habló Hablamos Hablasteis Hablaron	Bailé Bailaste Bailó Bailamos Bailasteis Bailaron

La semana pasada yo canté en el concierto.

Last week I sang in the concert.

Tú hablaste con el profesor de inglés.

You talked to the English teacher.

Ella no bailó porque estaba enferma.

She didn’t dance because she was sick.

Ayer nosotros cantamos esta canción.

Yesterday we sang this song.

Vosotras no hablasteis en la reunión.

You didn’t speak at the meeting.

Ellos bailaron en el festival del colegio.

They danced at the school festival.

Exercise

Preterite –Er and –Ir Verbs

To conjugate regular –er and –ir verbs in the Spanish Preterite, you only need to drop the –er or –ir, and add the following endings.

Have a look at the Spanish Preterite forms of verbs ending in –er.

Comer	Beber	Aprender
Comí Comiste Comió Comimos Comisteis Comieron	Bebí Bebiste Bebió Bebimos Bebisteis Bebieron	Aprendí Aprendiste Aprendió Aprendimos Aprendisteis Aprendieron

Anoche comí sopa de pollo para cenar.

Last night I ate chicken soup for dinner.

Tú bebiste batido de fresa en el descanso.

You drank strawberry milkshake at the break.

Él aprendió a jugar al ajedrez con su abuelo.

He learned to play chess with his grandfather.

Nosotras comimos en el restaurante italiano.

We had lunch at the Italian restaurant.

Vosotros bebisteis café sin azúcar.

You drank coffee without sugar.

Ellos aprendieron español con una app.

They learned Spanish with an app.

Exercise

Now let’s see examples of –ir verbs in Spanish Preterite. As you can see, they have the same endings as the –er verbs.

Vivir	Escribir	Abrir
Viví Viviste Vivió Vivimos Vivisteis Vivieron	Escribí Escribiste Escribió Escribimos Escribisteis Escribieron	Abrí Abriste Abrió Abrimos Abristeis Abrieron

Yo viví en el centro cuando era joven.

I lived downtown when I was young.

Tú escribiste un libro para niños.

You wrote a children’s book.

Él abrió una tienda de ropa en 2020.

He opened a clothing store in 2020.

Nosotras vivimos con un estudiante de México.

We lived with a Mexican student.

Vosotras no escribisteis este proyecto.

You didn’t write this project.

Ellos abrieron el maletero de mi coche.

They opened muy car’s trunk.

Exercise

Nosotros form

The nosotros forms for –ar and –ir verbs are the same in both Present and Preterite tenses. The context will tell you if they refer to a present or past action. Let’s have a look at some examples.

Todos los días cantamos en la escuela.

We sing every day in school.

Ayer cantamos en la escuela.

Yesterday we sang in school.

The first sentence refers to a present habit or routine since they use todos los días. However, the second sentence refers to a past action since they use ayer.

Ahora vivimos en Madrid.

Now we live in Madrid.

El año pasado vivimos en Barcelona.

Last year we lived in Barcelona.

The first sentence expresses where you live now (ahora) whereas the second sentence says where you lived last year (el año pasado). As you can see, the nosotros verb form is the same in both Present and Preterite tenses.

Exercises

Now you know how to form regular verbs in Spanish Preterite tense. Let’s practice these verb conjugations with the following exercises.

Preterite –Ar Verbs

Exercise

Preterite –Er and –Ir Verbs

Exercise

Exercise

Nosotros form

Exercises

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

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Preterite –Ar Verbs

Exercise

Preterite –Er and –Ir Verbs

Exercise

Exercise

Nosotros form

Exercises

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

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