Preterite Tense: Talking About What You Did

The preterite (pretérito indefinido) describes actions that were finished at a specific moment in the past: what happened yesterday, last week, or at a particular time. If you can say "it was done" with a clear end point, you usually need the preterite.

The endings

Key details to remember

-Er and -ir verbs share the same preterite endings. The yo and él/ella forms carry a written accent (hablé, habló, viví, vivió) because they are stressed on the last syllable. The accent matters for pronunciation and meaning. Watch out too: the nosotros form of -ar and -ir verbs looks the same in the preterite and the present (hablamos, vivimos). Only the context tells you which tense you are in.

Time markers that signal the preterite

• Ayer estudié toda la tarde. — Yesterday I studied all afternoon.
• Anoche cenamos muy tarde. — Last night we had dinner very late.
• El año pasado viajamos a Perú. — Last year we travelled to Peru.
• La semana pasada trabajé mucho. — Last week I worked a lot.
• Mi abuelo vivió en Sevilla durante veinte años. — My grandfather lived in Seville for twenty years.

Words such as ayer, anoche, el sábado pasado, de repente, and durante + a period of time (with an end point) point towards the preterite. Frequent habits in the past (todos los días, siempre, cada verano) use a different tense, the imperfect, which you will meet in a later lesson.