Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish

Definition of the Preterite Tense in Spanish Definition of the Preterite Tense The preterite (often spelled preterit) verb tense is the tense that expresses an action that took  place at a definite time in the past. It is contrasted with the imperfect tense, which expresses an action that took place at an indefinite time or has not been completed. The preterite is the tense that would normally be thought of as the past tense in English. The preterite is also known as the simple past tense in English and as the pretà ©rito indefinido or pretà ©rito perfecto simple in Spanish. When To Use the Preterite In general, the preterite is used in referring to events that happened at a specific time or to repeated events that happened over a specific time. A simple example would be Ayer yo buscaba las llaves (I looked for the keys yesterday) because the event happened at a specific time. If youre talking about something that didnt occur at a particular time, you usually would use the imperfect tense. For example, you might say, Yo buscaba las llaves en todas partes (I looked for the keys everywhere), as its unspecified when you did the searching. Some Spanish words and phrases, sometimes known as indicators, always or nearly always are used with the preterite. Among the common ones: anoche (last night)anteayer (the day before yesterday)h3Miscellaneous Facts About the Preterite/h3el aà ±o pasado (last year)ayer (yesterday)hace _____ (_____ ago)el mes pasado (last month)el otro dà ­a (the other day)la semana pasada (last week) Conjugation of the Preterite Here are the regular  conjugations  for the preterite  -ar,  -er, and  -ir  verbs. The endings, added to the verb stems, are shown in boldface: Example  -ar  verb  cantar  (to sing): yo cantà ©Ã‚  (I sang)tà º cantaste  (you sang)usted/à ©l/ella cantà ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it sang)nosotros/nosotras cantamos  (we sang)vosotros/vosotras cantasteis  (you sang)ustedes/ellos/ellas cantaron  (you/they sang) Example  -er  verb  temer  (to fear): yo temà ­Ã‚  (I feared)tà º temiste  (you feared)usted/à ©l/ella temià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it feared)nosotros/nosotras temimos  (we feared)vosotros/vosotras temisteis  (you feared)ustedes/ellos/ellas temieron  (you/they feared) Example  -ir  verb  partir  (to divide): yo partà ­Ã‚  (I divided)tà º partiste  (you divided)usted/à ©l/ella partià ³Ã‚  (you/he/she/it divided)nosotros/nosotras partimos  (we divided)vosotros/vosotras partisteis  (you divided)ustedes/ellos/ellas partieron  (you/they divided) Note that in the first-person plural or we forms, the forms are the same for both the  present  and imperfect tenses. In other words,  cantamos  can mean either we sing or we sang. Context will nearly always tell you which translation is appropriate. Sample Sentences Using the Preterite Pablo me hablà ³. (Pablo spoke to me.) Ana escribià ³ la carta. (Ana wrote the letter). Hace dos aà ±os fuimos a Nueva Zelanda. (Two years ago we went to New Zealand.) Se se cayà ³ tu celular al agua y no sabes que hacer, no desesperes. (If your cellphone fell into the water and you dont know what to do, dont worry.) Se puso el sol. (The sun set.) Compraron dos respiradores para el hospital. (They bought two respirators for the hospital.) El aà ± aà ±o pasado, esperamos las lluvias, pero nunca llegaron. (Last year we expected the rains, but they never came.) Anteayer estudiamos la epidemia de Barcelona de 1821. (The day before yesterday we studied the 1821 Barcelona epidemic. Note that without anteayear, the sentence would be ambiguous as to whether the studying occurred in the past or is currently taking place.) Ayear  fui el mejor dà ­a de mi vida. (Yesterday  was the best day of my life.) Mirà © a la derecha y ella mirà ³ a la izquierda. (I looked to the right and she looked to the left.)   Miscellaneous Facts About Using the Preterite The preterite is nearly always used in discussing events that happened only one time. El concierto fue un à ©xito. (The concert was a success.) One use of the preterite is to indicate that a process has become complete. La estudiante alcanzà ³ el tà ­tulo de campeà ³n. (The student took  the title of champion.) The preterite can also be used to indicate the beginning of a process: Guillermo conocà ­ a mi madre. (Guillermo met my mother. Note that conocer can mean to know or to meet. The translation of met is used because it refers to the moment that the two people began to know each other.)Tuve el coche perfecto. (I got the perfect car. If you used the imperfect form, tenà ­a, the verb would indicate ownership of the car rather than the obtaining of it.)