How To Conjugate The Simple Past Tenses In Spanish

The structure Spanish uses to conjugate the simple past tense is the same as for the simple present tense. A “simple” tense is a verb consisting of a single word formed by adding an ending to a verb stem. For a more in-depth discussion on the basics of verb conjugation, see our resource, “How to conjugate verbs in Spanish.”

In this blog we’ll demonstrate:

• how Spanish has more than one past tense: the preterit and the imperfect
• the verb endings for both the preterit and imperfect verb forms

How Can There Be Two Pasts?

The past is the past, right? In English, using the simple present tense, we say “we work.” With the simple past tense, we say “we worked.” Also, with English verbs there are other ways to show a past action. They are the present perfect I have worked, and the past perfect, I had worked.  Both those verb forms are compound and need a form of the helping verb haber (to have). 

Spanish does the same with the help of the verb haber (to have). For now we’ll focus our discussion on the Spanish simple past tenses–the preterit and imperfect.  

Your “Past Work Is Finished” With The Preterit

Spanish uses the preterit (pretérito) to express an action completed at some definite time in the past:

Examples:

• Mi padre llegó* ayer. (My father arrived (or did) arrive yesterday.)
• Tomé el desayuno a las siete. (I had (or did have) breakfast yesterday.)
• Salí la casa y llegué a la escuala a las ocho. (I left the house, and I arrived at school at eight o’clock.)

Another use of the preterit in Spanish is for some verbs that show a mental state. In the preterit, certain verbs take on a different meaning in the preterite:

Examples:

The ordinary meaning of the verb             Changes its meaning in the preterit to:

conocer (to know someone)                       met or introduced

poder (to be able to)                                    succeeded or (in the negative) failed

querer (to wish or want)                              tried or (in the negative) refused

saber (to know)                                            found out

tener (to have)                                              received

How To Conjugate Regular* Spanish Verbs In The Preterit:

-Ar Verbs: E.G. Hablar (To Speak)

Conjugated in English:

Singular                                                                    Plural

First Person:             I spoke                                   We spoke

Second Person:       You spoke                             You (all) spoke

Third Person:            He, she, or it spoke            They spoke

In Spanish, drop the -ar, and add the following preterit endings to the verb stem habl-:

Singular                                                                    Plural

First Person:             (yo) hablé                              (nosotros/Nosotras) hablamos*

Second Person:       (tú) hablaste                         (vosotros) hablasteis

Third Person:            (él, ella, usted) habló           (ellos/ellas, ustedes) hablaron

-Er And -Ir Verbs: E.G. Comer (To Eat) And Vivir To Live

(We’ll skip the English conjugation and go right to the Spanish. We’ll also omit the understood personal pronouns, shown in parentheses above.)

Drop the -er and -ir endings and add the following preterit endings to the verb stems com– and viv-:

Singular                                                                    Plural

First Person:             comí/viví                                comimos/vivimos*

Second Person:       comiste/viviste                     comisteis/vivisteis

Third Person:            comió/ vivió                          comieron/vivieron

*These verb forms are the same in the present tense. The difference arises from the context of their use. For example: Ayer, hablamos con Juan. Ahora vivimos en Barcelona. (Yesterday we talked with Juan. Now we live in Barcelona.)

The “Unfinished Work” Of The Imperfect Tense

The imperfect indicative (imperfecto de indicativo) tense is also a past tense. It suggests some incomplete action that was continuous in the past and completed at some unspecified time. An example would be “I went to the theater frequently while I lived in Spain.”

The imperfect indicative is also used to express an action that was going on in the past when another action occurred:

Mi hermana cantaba cuando yo entré. (My sister was singing when I came in.)

How To Conjugate Regular* Spanish Verbs In The Imperfect Indicative:

-Ar Verbs: E.G. Hablar

In Spanish, drop the -ar, and add the following imperfect indicative endings to the verb stem habl-:

Singular                                                                    Plural

First Person:             hablaba                                 hablábamos

Second Person:       hablabas                               hablabais

Third Person:            hablaba                                 hablaban

-Er And -Ir Verbs:

Drop the -er and -ir ending and add the following imperfect indicative endings to the verbs stems com– and viv-:

Singular                                                                    Plural

First Person:             comía/vivía                          comíamos/vivíamos

Second Person:       comías/vivías                       comíais/vivíais

Third Person:            comía/vivía                            comían/vivían

The good news about conjugating verbs in the imperfect indicative is that there are only three irregular conjugations to memorize. They are the verbs ser (to be), ir (to go), and ver (to see). We’ll cover irregular verb conjugations in a separate blog.

Now that you have learned the two past tenses in Spanish, it’s time to practice. Come on over to AnnaSpanish Lessons and book an hour’s practice. We have the materials, and Anna is a native speaker who can bring all those verb charts to life with the practice you need to perfect your Spanish.