Preterite is used to express definitely completed past action. It is called the past absolute, past definite or historical past. The preterite tense calls attention to completed action in past time.
The preterite refers as the past definite. Express an action that was completed at a definite time in the past. Some common adverbial phrases that accompany the preterite are:
- Ayer: yesterday
- Anteayer: the day before yesterday
- Anoche: last night
- el otro día. the other day
- hace dos días, años: two days ago, years
- la semana pasada: last week
- durante tres siglos: for three centuries
To conjugate verbs in the preterite indicative tense, attach the following endings to the stem of the verbs:
- For “ar” verbs: é, aste, ó, amos, aron
- For “er” verbs: í, iste, ió, imos, ieron
- For “ir” verbs: i, iste, ió, imos, ieron
| Pronouns | Hablar/ to talk | Comer/ to eat | Recibir/ to receive |
| Yo | Hablé | Comí | Recibí |
| Tú | hablaste | comiste | recibiste |
| Él/ ella | habló | Comió | recibió |
| Nosotros | hablamos | comimos | recibimos |
| Ellos | hablaron | comieron | recibieron |
All regular verbs in the Spanish preterite tense bear a written accent over the last vowel in the first and the third persons singular. It is used anytime a definite past action is expressed
There are seventeen verbs that are irregular in the preterite indicative tense. It is an easy tense to learn in that fourteen of these verbs, although possessing irregular stems, take the irregular preterite endings as follow: e, iste, o, imos,ieron.
| Infinitive | Irregular stems | Endings |
| Andar/ to walk | anduv | Anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvimos. |
| Estar/ to be | estuv | Estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron. |
| haber | hub | Hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubieron. |
| Hacer/ to do/ to make | hic | Hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicieron. |
| Poder/ to be able | pud | Pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudieron. |
| Poner/to put | pus | Puse, pusiste, puse, pusimos, pusieron. |
| Tener/ to have | tuv | Tuve, tuviste, tuve, tuvimos, tuvieron. |
| Venir/ to come | vin | Vine, viniste, vine, vinimos, vinieron. |
| Querer/ to want | quis | Quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisieron |
| Saber/ to know | sup | Supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supieron. |
| Traer/ to bring | traj | Traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajeron. |
| Decir/ to tell/ to say | dij | Dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijeron. |
| Conducir/ to drive | conduj | Conduje, condujiste, condujo, condujimos, condujeron. |
| Caber/ to fit *
We never use this verb |
Cup | Cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupieron. |
| Pronouns | Ser/ to be | Ir/ to go |
| Yo | fui | fui |
| Tú | fuiste | fuiste |
| Él/ella | fue | fue |
| Nosotros | fuimos | fuimos |
| Ellos | fueron | fueron |
“ Ser” and “ir” are conjugated alike in the preterite indicative tense.