Spanish II: Regular Verbs in the Preterit

Regular Verbs in the Preterit

Verbs that are regular in the present tense are not necessarily regular in the preterit. Because the preterit irregulars are presented later, only regular verbs in the preterit are used as examples in this section. To conjugate a regular verb in the preterit tense, remove the infinitive ending and add the preterit endings presented below. For an - ar verb that is regular in the preterit, use the endings in Table 1 . Because - er and - ir verbs are conjugated exactly alike in the preterit tense, both use the endings in Table 3 .

TABLE 1

Preterit Endings for Regular - ar Verbs

Subject	Ending	Subject	Ending
yo	-é	nosotros/nosotras	-amos
tú	-aste	vosotros/vosotras	-asteis
él	-ó	ellos	-aron
ella	-ó	ellas	-aron
usted	-ó	ustedes	-aron

In the present tense, the yo form ends in - o, but in the preterit tense, the él, ella, and usted forms end in - ó. Be sure to notice the accent mark on the preterit forms because that is the only difference between the yo form of the present tense and the él form of the preterit tense. There is also an accent mark on the yo form of all regular preterit verbs. Pronounce these words with the stress on the last syllable.

Notice that regular - ar verbs have the same nosotros/nosotras form in the preterit as they do in the present tense. The only way to know whether it is in the preterit or present tense is by considering the context of the sentence.

Cantar (to sing) is a regular verb in the preterit, so it serves as a good example. Table 2 is a conjugation chart for the verb cantar in the preterit tense. Because the preterit is a past tense, these forms translate to the English past tense form: “sang.”

TABLE 2

Preterit Forms of the Regular - ar Verb Cantar

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	canté	nosotros/nosotras	cantamos
tú	cantaste	vosotros/vosotras	cantasteis
él	cantó	ellos	cantaron
ella	cantó	ellas	cantaron
usted	cantó	ustedes	cantaron

As you can see in Table 3 , the endings for - er and - ir verbs are the same for regular verbs in the preterit tense.

TABLE 3

Preterit Endings for Regular - er Verbs and Regular - ir Verbs

Subject	Ending	Subject	Ending
yo	-í	nosotros/nosotras	-imos
tú	-iste	vosotros/vosotras	-isteis
él	-ió	ellos	-ieron
ella	-ió	ellas	-ieron
usted	-ió	ustedes	-ieron

The nosotros/nosotras form of an - ir verb is exactly the same in the present and preterit tenses.

Beber (to drink) is a regular - er verb in the preterit. The preterit forms in Table 4 translate to the English past tense form: “drank.”

TABLE 4

Preterit Forms of the Regular - er Verb Beber

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	bebí	nosotros/nosotras	bebimos
tú	bebiste	vosotros/vosotras	bebisteis
él	bebió	ellos	bebieron
ella	bebió	ellas	bebieron
usted	bebió	ustedes	bebieron

The verb vivir (to live) is a good example of a regular - ir verb in the preterit. Table 5 serves as a sample conjugation for all - ir verbs in the preterit.

TABLE 5

Preterit Forms of the Regular - ir Verb Vivir

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	viví	nosotros/nosotras	vivimos
tú	viviste	vosotros/vosotras	vivisteis
él	vivió	ellos	vivieron
ella	vivió	ellas	vivieron
usted	vivió	ustedes	vivieron

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