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Lesson 3. The preterite (pretérito indefinido): regular verbs and the letter in the yo form
I can talk about the past with regular verbs and get the yo form right: busqué, llegué, empecé.
The preterite of regular verbs: one letter in the yo form
Pretérito indefinido and the yo form
This is the same past tense for telling stories, the preterite: what happened and is over. Time expressions help you spot it: ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado, la semana pasada, el mes pasado, el año pasado, el verano pasado, hace dos días. There is no helper like English “did”: the ending does the job.
The endings of regular verbs are in the first table.
Only in the yo form does a letter change, so that the stem keeps its sound: -car becomes -qué (buscar becomes busqué), -gar becomes -gué (llegar becomes llegué), -zar becomes -cé (empezar becomes empecé). All three groups are in the second table.
Why: before e, the letter c would sound /θ/ and g would sound /x/; and Spanish writes the /θ/ sound before e with c, not z. English spelling has no such rule, so learn the three changes.
The other persons don't change: buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron.
Stress: the yo and él forms need an accent mark — busqué, buscó.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Ayer buscé mi móvil” — correct: busqué.
• NOT “Llegé tarde” — correct: llegué.
• NOT “Empezé a las ocho” — correct: empecé.
• NOT “Yo jugé al fútbol” — correct: jugué.
• NOT “Paguí” — correct: pagué.
Pretérito indefinido (the preterite): regular verb endings
-er and -ir verbs have the same endings. In the yo and él forms, the stress falls on the end of the word.
| Person | -ar: trabajar | -er / -ir: comer · vivir |
|---|---|---|
| yo | trabajé | comí · viví |
| tú | trabajaste | comiste · viviste |
| él · ella · usted | trabajó | comió · vivió |
| nosotros · nosotras | trabajamos | comimos · vivimos |
| vosotros · vosotras | trabajasteis | comisteis · vivisteis |
| ellos · ellas · ustedes | trabajaron | comieron · vivieron |
The yo form: -car, -gar, -zar
One letter changes so that the stem keeps its sound. The other persons stay the same.
| Infinitive | yo form | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| buscar · sacar · practicar | busqué · saqué · practiqué | -car becomes -qué |
| llegar · jugar · apagar · pagar | llegué · jugué · apagué · pagué | -gar becomes -gué |
| empezar · organizar · cruzar | empecé · organicé · crucé | -zar becomes -cé |
Lesson notes
Pretérito indefinido and the yo form
This is the same past tense for telling stories, the preterite: what happened and is over. Time expressions help you spot it: ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado, la semana pasada, el mes pasado, el año pasado, el verano pasado, hace dos días. There is no helper like English “did”: the ending does the job.
The endings of regular verbs are in the first table.
Only in the yo form does a letter change, so that the stem keeps its sound: -car becomes -qué (buscar becomes busqué), -gar becomes -gué (llegar becomes llegué), -zar becomes -cé (empezar becomes empecé). All three groups are in the second table.
Why: before e, the letter c would sound /θ/ and g would sound /x/; and Spanish writes the /θ/ sound before e with c, not z. English spelling has no such rule, so learn the three changes.
The other persons don't change: buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron.
Stress: the yo and él forms need an accent mark — busqué, buscó.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Ayer buscé mi móvil” — correct: busqué.
• NOT “Llegé tarde” — correct: llegué.
• NOT “Empezé a las ocho” — correct: empecé.
• NOT “Yo jugé al fútbol” — correct: jugué.
• NOT “Paguí” — correct: pagué.