The preterite: -AR verbs
The preterite tells what happened: finished actions at a specific time in the past. Ayer hablé con Ana.
PART01
Theory
Take off -ar and add the past endings. Watch the accents.
hablar in the preterite
| Who | hablar |
|---|---|
| yo | hablé |
| tú | hablaste |
| él / ella / usted | habló |
| nosotros/as | hablamos |
| vosotros/as | hablasteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hablaron |
In real sentences
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Ayer trabajé mucho. | Yesterday I worked a lot. |
| ¿Compraste el pan? | Did you buy the bread? |
| Mi madre me llamó anoche. | My mum called me last night. |
| El año pasado viajamos a Perú. | Last year we travelled to Peru. |
| ¿Visitasteis el museo? | Did you (all) visit the museum? |
| Llegaron tarde. | They arrived late. |
The accent changes everything
hablo = I speak
habló = he spoke
nosotros: same as present
hablamos = we speak / we spoke
Context tells you which.
Finished, at a set time
Ayer cené en casa. = Yesterday I had dinner at home.
En 2019 viajé a Japón. = In 2019 I travelled to Japan.
Past-time words
ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado, en 2020, hace dos años = yesterday, last night, last Monday, in 2020, two years ago
vosotros: -asteis
hablasteis = you (all) spoke
Not hablastes.
Did you…? = just the verb
¿Llamaste a Ana?
= Did you call Ana?
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