Just like ser and estar, there are two tenses to be used for two different ideas in Spanish for the past tense: preterite and imperfect. Imperfect is a very advanced concept that will be saved for another time, and we'll cover the differences when we get there, but for now, it's time to learn the preterite conjugations.
(Oh, heck. You guys can handle it right now. I know it. 😆)
The preterite tense is usually used to refer to things that have a definite beginning and definite ending. For example:
Compré un coche. ｜I bought a car.
This uses the preterite tense because unless you are still in the process of buying the car, you have completed that action. It's really very simple, and I'm honestly not sure why imperfect is taught in Spanish III-IV, but there's a reason for everything. Now let's look at the conjugations for preterite. The first ending is for -ar verbs and the second is for -er and -ir verbs.
Yo: -é, -í
Tú: -aste, -iste
Él, ella, ud.: -ó
Nosotros: -amos, -emos, (context will usually tell you whether it's present or past tense)
Vosotros: -asteis, -isteis
Ellos/Ellas, uds.: -aron, -ieron
Now let's have some tasty examples:
Comí el pudín. ｜I ate pudding.
Escribiste una carta. ｜You wrote a letter.
Caminamos juntos. ｜We walked together. (Remember, context is everything.)
Ella comó una pieza de pastel. ｜She ate a piece of cake.
Leieron un libro. ｜They read a letter.
Like all tenses, preterite takes practice to memorize and master.
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Language Bites, Volume I: Spanish ✔
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