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This section of the Spanish wikibook discusses the Spanish past tense. You have presumably learned about the present tense, therefore this section assumes a knowledge of said tense and previously learned vocabulary.

[edit] La formación del pretérito

First, we must learn the preterite tense, is used for past actions that are seen as completed. There are two different forms of the preterite, one for -ar verbs and a seperate form for -er and -ir verbs.

1. Los verbos regulares del preterito - ar

Let us learn the conjugation for regular -ar verbs in the preterite now. For example:

El preterito - ejemplos de los verbos -ar

cantar (to sing)
	Singular	Plural
First	canté	cantamos
Second	cantaste	cantasteis
Third	cantó	cantaron

nadar (to swim)
	Singular	Plural
First	nadé	nadamos
Second	nadaste	nadasteis
Third	nadó	nadaron

Notice the pattern: in each form, you must drop the "ar" in the infinitive form. For the first person singular, you add "é", for the second person singular you add "aste", for the third it is "aron". As for plural, in the first person "amos" is added, in the second "asteis", and in the third we add "aron".

Onto the exercises...

2. Los verbos regulares del preterito - er y ir

Now, we will learn the conjugation for regular -er and -ir verbs. For example:

El preterito - ejemplos de los verbos -er y -ir

beber (to drink)
	Singular	Plural
First	bebí	bebimos
Second	bebiste	bebisteis
Third	bebió	bebieron

vivir (to live)
	Singular	Plural
First	viví	vivimos
Second	viviste	vivisteis
Third	vivió	vivieron

Notice the pattern: in each form, you must drop the "er" or "ir" in the infinitive form. For the first person singular, you add "í", for the second person singular you add "iste", for the third it is "ieron". As for plural, in the first person "imos" is added, in the second "isteis", and in the third we add "ieron".

Onto the exercises...

3. Los verbos con cambios de deletreo en la forma "yo" - 'car', 'gar', 'zar'

There are also verbs that change in the first person singular form even further. Such verbs end in "car", "gar", or "zar".

practicar (to practice)
	Singular	Plural
First	practiqué	practicamos
Second	practicaste	practicasteis
Third	practicó	practicaron

llegar (to arrive)
	Singular	Plural
First	llegué	llegamos
Second	llegaste	llegasteis
Third	llegó	llegaron

comenzar (to begin)
	Singular	Plural
First	comencé	comenzamos
Second	comenzaste	comenzasteis
Third	comenzó	comenzaron

In all three cases, instead of merely dropping the "ar", you must also drop the letter directly preceeding it for the first person singular form.

Onto the exercises...

Ejercicios del pretérito

These exercises take what we have learned so far and integrates everything together. Be familiar with the first three sections of el tiempo pasado.

Onto the exercises...

[edit] La formación del imperfecto

The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.

1. La formacion del imperfecto - los verbos ar

Just as with the preterite, in the imperfect construction -ar verbs receive their own conjugation. For example:

El preterito - ejemplos de los verbos -ar

hablar (to speak)
	Singular	Plural
First	hablaba	hablábamos
Second	hablabas	hablabais
Third	hablaba	hablaban

cantar (to sing)
	Singular	Plural
First	cantaba	cantábamos
Second	cantabas	cantabais
Third	cantaba	cantaban

Notice the pattern: in the imperfect construction we drop the "ar" and add our endings. As for the singular, in the first person we add "aba", in the second person we add "abas", and in the third person we add "aba". In the plural, for the first person we add "ábamos" (with an accent), for the second person we add "abais", and in the third we add "aban".

Onto the exercises...

2. La formacion del imperfecto - los verbos er y ir

Just as in the preterite, the -er and -ir verbs have their own conjugation. For example:

El preterito - ejemplos de los verbos -er y -ir

correr (to run)
	Singular	Plural
First	corría	corríamos
Second	corrías	corríais
Third	corría	corrían

asistir (to attend)
	Singular	Plural
First	asistía	asistíamos
Second	asistías	asistíais
Third	asistía	asistían

Notice the pattern: in the imperfect construction we drop the "er" or "ir" and add our endings. As for the singular, in the first person we add "ía", in the second person we add "ías", and in the third person we add "ía". In the plural, for the first person we add "íamos" (with an accent), for the second person we add "íais", and in the third we add "ían".

Onto the exercises...

3. Los verbos irregulares en la forma de imperfecto: 'ser', 'ir', y 'ver'

Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect construction: ser, ir, and ver:

ser (to be)
	Singular	Plural
First	era	éramos
Second	eras	erais
Third	era	eran

ir (to go)
	Singular	Plural
First	iba	íbamos
Second	ibas	ibais
Third	iba	iban

ver (to see)
	Singular	Plural
First	veía	veíamos
Second	veías	veíais
Third	veía	veían