Preterite Tense  

Preterite Tense Use of the Preterite Next: Preterite vs. Imperfect
Overview

There are two forms of the past in Spanish.The imperfect past and the preterite past. This lesson focuses on the Spanish preterite which indicates that an event took place at some point in the past and it is a completed finished action. Let's look at some preterite sentences as examples:

Preterite sentence examples

caminar (to walk)

Yo caminé al parque. - I walked to the park.
Él caminó en la calle. - He walked on the street.

Yo caminé en la playa. - I walked on the beach.

correr (to run).

Yo corrí dos veces. - I ran two times.
Nosotros corrimos en el jardín. - We ran in the garden.

There are many irregular verbs in the Spanish Preterite:

ir (to go)

Yo fui a Francia. - I went to France.
Él fue a México por avión. - He went to Mexico by plane.

dar (to give)

Yo di una mano. - I gave a hand.
Ellos nos lo dieron. - They gave it to us.

Spanish past tense sentences

The Spanish preterite indicates that an event took place at some point in the past and it is a completed action. Let's look at some examples:

¿Cuántas galletas comiste? - How many cookies did you eat?

Ellos jugaron fútbol ayer. - They played soccer yesterday.

Sólo dormí una hora, pero cuando desperté, me sentí descansada.
I only slept for one hour but when I woke up, I felt rested.

Nosotros cantamos una canción buena en la discoteca.
We sang a good song at the discotheque.

Preterite tense sentences with hablé
Preterite tense sentences with hablaste
Preterite tense sentences with habló
Preterite tense sentences with hablamos
Preterite tense sentences with hablaron

preterite tense sentences


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Popular Phrase: conjugate llevar | Time in Spanish | Conjugated Verb: plegar - to fold, to bend, to submit [ click for full conjugation ]