To say what happened at a finished moment, swap the endings: -ar verbs take -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron; -er and -ir verbs share -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron. Use it with time markers like ayer, anoche or el año pasado.
Examples
- Ayer hablé con mi madre.
- Yesterday I spoke with my mother.
- ¿Comiste algo antes de salir?
- Did you eat anything before going out?
- Salimos del cine a las diez.
- We left the cinema at ten.
The mistake to avoid
The written accent carries the meaning: hablo is "I speak", habló is "he/she spoke".
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.
Words in this lesson
- hablé - I spoke / talked
- Hablé con mi madre ayer.I spoke with my mother yesterday.
- trabajé - I worked
- Trabajé hasta las ocho.I worked until eight.
- estudié - I studied
- Estudié dos horas anoche.I studied for two hours last night.
- escuché - I listened (to)
- Escuché un podcast en el tren.I listened to a podcast on the train.
- miré - I watched / looked at
- Miré una película anoche.I watched a movie last night.
- comí - I ate
- Comí pasta para la cena.I ate pasta for dinner.
- bebí - I drank
- Bebí un café por la mañana.I drank a coffee in the morning.
- viví - I lived
- Viví dos años en México.I lived in Mexico for two years.
- salí - I went out / left
- Salí con amigos el sábado.I went out with friends on Saturday.
- escribí - I wrote
- Escribí un correo a mi jefa.I wrote an email to my boss.