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Home / Beginner / 8. Verbs

8.9 TALKING ABOUT THE PAST: Regular Verbs

The Preterite tense in Spanish is equivalent to the simple past in English e.g. ‘I wrote’, ‘I spoke’, ‘I ate’, etc. In Spanish however, the regular verbs follow a set pattern depending on whether they are ‘ar’, ‘ir’ or ‘er’ verbs.


The past tense of ‘ar’ verbs

HABLAR – To speak

Yo hablé -  I spoke
Tú hablaste – You spoke (informal)
Usted habló – You spoke (formal)
Él/Ella habló  -  He/She spoke
Nosotros/Nosotras hablamos – We spoke
Ustedes hablaron – You spoke (plural)
Ellos/Ellas hablaron – They spoke

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Let’s look at some examples:

Hablé con mi hermana ayer – I spoke to my sister yesterday
¿Le hablaste a Juan la semana pasada? - Did you speak to Juan last week ?
¿Usted habló con el jefe esta mañana? - Did you speak to the boss this morning ?
Anoche hablamos con la familia de ella – Last night, we spoke to her family
Ellas hablaron por teléfono por una hora – They spoke on the phone for an hour

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Note: For ‘ar’ verbs the ‘nosotros/nosotras’ form is the same in the past tense (in this case ‘hablamos’). Don’t worry. The meaning becomes clear according to the context.


The past tense of ‘er’ verbs

COMER – To eat

Yo comí – I ate
Tú comiste – You ate (informal)
Usted comió – You ate (formal)
Él/Ella comió – He/She ate
Nosotros/Nosotras comimos – We ate
Ustedes comieron – You ate (plural)
Ellos/Ellas comieron – They ate

Sound Click here to listen

Let’s look at some examples:

Comí una pizza anoche – I ate a pizza last night
¿Comiste mucho esta mañana? – Did you eat a lot this morning?
Ella comió torta ayer – She ate cake yesterday
Comimos bistek anoche – We ate steak last night
Ellos comieron juntos la semana pasada – They ate together last week

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The past tense of ‘ir’ verbs

SALIR – To leave

Yo salí – I left
Tú saliste – You left (informal)
Usted salió – You left (formal)
Él/ella salió – He/She left 
Nosotros/Nosotras salimos – We left
Ustedes salieron – You left (plural)
Ellos/Ellas salieron – They left

Sound Click here to listen

Let’s look at some examples:

Salí del cine – I left the cinema
¿Saliste temprano? – Did you leave early?
Él salió de la casa a las ocho de la mañana – He left the house at 8 am
Nosotros salimos tarde de la oficina – We left the office late
Ellas salieron a comer – They went out to eat

Sound Click here to listen