In this article, one of the most important times is going to be taught in Spanish. Simple past that in Spanish is called pretérito indefinido.
Table of Contents
The Formula of The Simple Present in Spanish
How can you make a verb in simple past?
In Spanish verbs end in three different forms such as: -ar, -er, and -ir. To conjugate the verbs in simple past (pretérito indefinido) these three terminations of verbs should be omitted. And another terminations should be added.
The verbs which end in -ar:
-ar should be omitted and instead of that, we add:
- Yo … -é
- Tú … -aste
- Él/Ella/Usted … -ó
- Nosotros/Nosotras … -amos
- Vosotros/Vosotras … -asteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes … -aron
Examples:
- Hablar: to speak
- Yo hablé (I spoke)
- Tú hablaste (you spoke)
- Él habló (he spoke)
- Ella habló (she spoke)
- Usted habló (you spoke, formal, singular)
- Nosotros/Nosotras hablamos (we spoke)
- Vosotros/Vosotras hablasteis (you spoke, plural)
- Ellos hablaron (they spoke)
- Ellas hablaron (they spoke, feminine)
- Ustedes hablaron (you spoke, formal, plural)
Estudiar (to study): estudié, estudiaste, estudió, estudiamos, estudiasteis, estudiaron
Escuchar (to listen): escuché, escuchaste, escuchó, escuchamos, escuchasteis, escucharon
Cantar (to sing): canté, cantaste, cantó, cantamos, cantasteis, cantaron
Pintar (to Paint): pinté, pintaste, pintó, pintamos, pintasteis, pintaron
The verbs which end in -er:
-er should be omitted and instead of that we add:
- Yo … -í
- Tú … -iste
- Él/Ella/Usted … -ió
- Nosotros/Nosotras … -imos
- Vosotros/Vosotras … -isteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes … -ieron
Comer (to eat):
- Yo comí (I ate)
- Tú comiste (you ate)
- Él comió (he ate)
- Ella comió (she ate)
- Usted comió (you ate, singular, formal)
- Nosotros/Nosotras comimos (we ate)
- Vosotros/Vosotras comisteis (you ate, plural)
- Ellos comieron (they ate)
- Ellas comieron (they ate, feminine)
- Ustedes comieron (you ate, plural, formal)
Nacer (to be born): nací, naciste, nació, nacimos, nacisteis, nacieron
Entender (to understand): entendí, entendiste, entendió, entendimos, entendisteis, entendieron
Ver (to ser, to watch): ví, viste, vió, vimos, visteis, vieron
The verbs which end in -ir:
-ir should be omitted and instead of that we add:
- Yo … -í
- Tú … -iste
- Él/Ella/Usted … -ió
- Nosotros/Nosotras … -imos
- Vosotros/Vosotras … -isteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes … -ieron
Vivir (to live):
- Yo viví (l lived)
- Tú viviste (you lived)
- Él vivió (he lived)
- Ella vivió (she lived)
- Usted vivió (you lived, singular, formal)
- Nosotros/Nosotras vivimos (we lived)
- Vosotros/Vosotras vivisteis (you lived, plural)
- Ellos vivieron (they lived)
- Ellas vivieron (they lived, feminine)
- Ustedes vivieron (you lived, plural, formal)
Escribir (to write): escribí, escribiste, escribió, escribimos, escribisteis, escribieron
Irregular verbs:
Some verbs are irregular (irregular terminations)
Decir (to say, to tell): dije (I said, I told), dijiste (you said, you told), dijo (she/he said/told, you said/told (formal, singular), dijimos (we said/told), dijisteis (you said/told), dijeron (they said/told, you said/told, plural, formal)
Estar (to be): estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
Hacer (to make, to do): hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
Poner (to put, to turn on): puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
Tener (to have): tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
Ir (to go): fuí, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Ser (to be): fuí, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
The Usages of the simple past (pretérito indefinido)
When do we use the simple past in Spanish?
The simple past (pretérito indefinido) in Spanish is used to talk about past actions or situations. It tells us what happened at a specific time in the past that is already finished. And it comes with specific time expressions such as: ayer (yesterday), la semana pasada (last week), anoche (last night), hace dos meses (two months ago), en 1995 (in 1995) … . Examples:
Nací en 1991.
I was born in 1991.
Anoche fue al parque con su amigo.
Last night he/she went to the park with his/her friend.
Ayer llamé a mi amigo.
Yesterday I called my friend.
La primera guerra mundial empezó en 1914 y acabó en 1918.
The first World War started in 1914 and ended (finished) in 1918.
It can be used in a sequence of actions, all finished. For example:
Cuando acabó la película, encendieron las luces.
When the movie ended (finished), they turned on the lights.
El profesor entró en la aula, abrió el libro y empezó a explicar.
The teacher entered the classroom, opened the book and began to explain.
It is used a lot in narratives and biographies. For example :
Miguel Ángel Asturias nació en Ciudad de Guatemala en 1899. Estudió Derecho en su país. Y pronto se interesó por las antiguas religiones y culturas de América central.Publicó su primer libro, leyendas de Guatemala, en Madrid, en 1930. Recibió el premio Nobel de literatura en 1967.
Miguel Ángel Asturias was born in Guatemala City in 1899. He studied Law in his country. and he soon became interested in the ancient religions and cultures of Central America. He published his first book, legends of Guatemala, in Madrid, in 1930. He received the Nobel prize for literature in 1967.
The Negative Form
How can you make the simple past negative in Spanish? If you want to make this tense negative, you should add a “no” before the verb. Pay attention to the following examples.
Hace dos días no fuí al trabajo, porque estuve enfermo.
Two days ago I didn’t go to work because I was sick.
Anoche no pudo dormir.
Last night he/she couldn’t sleep.
La semana pasada no participamos en la clase.
Last week we didn’t participate in the class.
In this article, we talked about The Simple Past in Spanish. I hope it helped you to learn this tense. But if you have any questions about it, just leave a comment.
You can also check out the Spanish Grammar page to read other grammatical articles.