Preterit - Pretérito (Pretérito Indefinido)

The preterite is one of the two simple past tenses in Spanish. It is used when the speaker wants to focus on the beginning or ending of an action in the past. The table below shows the terminations for many irregular verbs in the preterite tense.

   
yo
   
-e


   
tú
   
-iste


   
Ud./él/ella
   
-o


   
nosotros as
   
-imos


   
vosotros as
   
-isteis


   
Uds./ellos/ellas
   
-ieron

u-stem verbs
construir (ex sentences) (full conjugation)

   
yo
   
construí
   
(I built)


   
tú
   
construiste
   
(you built)


   
Ud./él/ella
   
construyó
   
(you/he/she built)


   
nosotros (as)
   
construímos
   
(we built)


   
vosotros (as)
   
construisteis
   
(you built)


   
Uds./ellos/ ellas
   
construyó
   
(you all/they built)

These verbs change in all preterit forms:

   
andar (to walk)
   
changes to
   
anduv—


   
estar (to be)
   
changes to
   
estuv—


   
tener (to have)
   
changes to
   
tuv—


   
poner (to put)
   
changes to
   
pus—


   
poder (to be able)
   
changes to
   
pud—


   
saber (to know)
   
changes to
   
sup—

i-stem verbs
dormir (example sentences) (full conjugation)

   
yo
   
dormí
   
(I slept)


   
tú
   
dormiste
   
(you [informal] slept)


   
Ud./él/ella
   
durmió
   
(you/he/she slept)


   
nosotros as
   
dormimos
   
(we slept)


   
vosotros as
   
dormisteis
   
(you [informal] slept)


   
Uds./ellos/ ellas
   
durmieron
   
(you all/they slept)

   
hacer (to make, to do)
   
changes to
   
hic—


   
querer (to want, to love)
   
changes to
   
quis—




   
venir (to come)
   
changes to
   
vin—

mentir(example sentences) (full conjugation)

   
yo
   
mentí
   
(I told a lie)


   
tú
   
mentiste
   
(you told a lie)


   
Ud./él/ella
   
mintió
   
(he told a lie)


   
nosotros as
   
mentimos
   
(we told a lie)


   
vosotros as
   
mentisteis
   
(you guys told a lie)


   
Uds./ellos/ ellas
   
mintió
   
(you all/they told a lie)

j-stem verbs
pedir (example sentences) (full conjugation)

    
yo
    
pedí
    
(I requested)


    
tú
    
pediste
    
(you requested)


    
Ud./él/ella
    
pidió
    
(you/he/she requested)


    
nosotros as
    
pedimos
    
(we requested)


    
vosotros as
    
pedisteis
    
(you guys requested)


    
Uds./ellos/ ellas
    
pidieron
    
(they requested)

in all preterit forms

   
decir (to say, to tell)
   
changes to
   
dij—


   
traer (to bring)
   
changes to
   
traj—


   
conducir (to drive, to lead)
   
changes to
   
conduj—


   
producir (to produce)
   
changes to
   
produj—


   
traducir (to translate)
   
changes to
   
traduj—

Note:
m = male f = female mix = mixed group
yo = I, tú = you (informal)
usted (Ud.) = you (formal)
él = he, ella = she
nosotros = we (m/mix), nosotras = we (f)
vosotros = you guys (informal, m/mix)
vosotras = you guys (informal, f)
ellos = they (m/mix), ellas = they (f)
ustedes (Uds.) = you all (formal)

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