The most common past verbs are irregular and share one set of unstressed endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -ieron. Ser and ir are both fui. Estar is estuve, tener is tuve, hacer is hice, poder is pude. For ago, use hace plus the amount of time.
Examples
- Anoche fui al cine con Marta.
- Last night I went to the cinema with Marta.
- Hace dos días tuve una reunión larga.
- Two days ago I had a long meeting.
- ¿Qué hiciste el mes pasado?
- What did you do last month?
The mistake to avoid
These irregulars carry no written accent: tuve and hice, never "tuvé" or "hicé".
Where this fits in
Talking about the past, Spanish A2: Tell stories about yesterday, last weekend, and life experiences. Preterite for finished actions, and 'haber' + participle for life experiences.