Ayer aprendí muchas palabras nuevas: the pretérito indefinido tense
erb tenses, why there are so many and what they're used for, are something that creates difficulties for those learning the Spanish language. Because yes, in other languages with fewer verb tenses, the same messages can be conveyed. The fact is that they exist. And while one gets used to those different aspects of the language or languages they learn through practice - and I know this from experience - understanding some concepts can accelerate learning. The pretérito indefinido, also called pretérito perfecto simple, is a perfective verb tense, that is, it presents the verbal action as completed. This is from a strictly semantic point of view: there are perfective verb tenses in the future and, obviously, no future action has concluded yet. This is in contrast to, for example, the pretérito imperfecto, an imperfective verb tense, which like all imperfective tenses doesn't show the end of the verbal action, that is, when we use an imperfective tense we don't convey the message of whether the verbal action ended or not. From this it follows that we will use the pretérito indefinido to express actions that occurred in the past and have already concluded. In this article we'll see the uses of this preterite, its conjugation, and usage examples. Let's go!
If you already have a certain level of command of the preterite tense and what you have are doubts about when to use this verb tense and when the imperfect, I recommend you read this article. There you’ll find an explanation about the use and conjugation of both verb tenses, plus similar sentences in both verb tenses with an explanation of the context in which both would be used, that is, a comparison. If you’re starting with the preterite tenses in Spanish, stay with this article.
What is the pretérito indefinido?
The pretérito indefinido is a verb tense in the indicative mood that is used to express completed actions in the past. Unlike the pretérito imperfecto, which describes habitual or developing actions, the indefinido presents actions as punctual events, finished and well delimited in time. Its main uses are describing punctual and finished actions in the past, describing sequences of actions, describing the duration of actions already finished in the past and, in combination with other verb tenses, such as the pretérito imperfecto or pluscuamperfecto, introducing punctual actions that occurred during another action already in process. Let’s see examples.
María llegó a casa a las ocho. (María arrived home at eight).
El concierto empezó puntualmente. (The concert started punctually).
These two are punctual and finished actions.
Me levanté, me duché y desayuné. (I got up, I showered, and I had breakfast).
Juan abrió la puerta, entró en la habitación y encendió la luz. (Juan opened the door, entered the room, and turned on the light).
In these two examples we see two sequences of actions that occurred one after the other and all finished in the past.
Viví en Madrid durante cinco años. (I lived in Madrid for five years).
La reunión duró tres horas. (The meeting lasted three hours).
Here we see examples of how to introduce the duration of actions that developed in the past and already finished.
Estudiaba cuando sonó el teléfono. (I was studying when the phone rang).
Caminábamos por el parque cuando empezó a llover. (We were walking through the park when it started to rain).
Here we have examples of two punctual actions, introduced in the pretérito indefinido, that occurred during actions in process, expressed in the pretérito imperfecto.
Regular conjugation of the pretérito indefinido.
The regular conjugation in the pretérito indefinido is formed with the verb root plus regular endings based on the verb group. The verb root is obtained by removing the ending of the verb in its infinitive form: hablar = habl, comer = com, vivir = viv. The endings, as we’ll see, are the same for verbs that end in -ER and -IR.
Verbs ending in -AR.
The conjugation of regular verbs ending in -AR follows this pattern (example: hablar – to speak):
Yo -é –> Yo hablé
Tú -aste –>Tú hablaste
Él/EllaUsted -ó –> Él/Ella/Usted habló
Nosotros/as -amos –> Nosotros/as hablamos
Vosotros/as -asteis –> Vosotros/as hablasteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes -aron –> Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes hablaron
Other examples of -AR verbs:
caminar (to walk): caminé, caminaste, caminó…
estudiar (to study): estudié, estudiaste, estudió…
trabajar (to work): trabajé, trabajaste, trabajó…
Verbs ending in -ER and -IR.
Regular verbs ending in -ER and -IR share the same endings (example: comer – to eat and vivir – to live):
Yo -í
Tú -iste
Usted -ió
Él/ella -ió
Nosotros/as -imos
Vosotros/as -isteis
Ustedes -ieron
Ellos/ellas -ieron
Comer (To eat):
Yo comí
Tú comiste
Él/Ella/Usted comió
Nosotros/as comimos
Vosotros/as comisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes comieron
Vivir (To live):
Yo viví
Tú viviste
Él/Ella/Usted vivió
Nosotros/as vivimos
Vosotros/as vivisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes vivieron
Important note: In -IR verbs, the nosotros forms are identical in present and indefinido (vivimos can be present or past). Context helps us distinguish the tense.
Most frequent irregular verbs.
Vowel irregularities (e > i, o > u).
Some -IR verbs change the root vowel in third person singular and plural:
Pedir (to ask for) (e > i):
pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
Other similar verbs:
servir (to serve): sirvió, sirvieron
repetir (to repeat): repitió, repitieron
seguir (to follow): siguió, siguieron
mentir (to lie): mintió, mintieron
Dormir (to sleep) (o > u):
dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
Other similar verbs:
morir (to die):murió, murieron
Verbs with irregular roots.
These verbs completely change the root and have special endings:
Ser/Ir (to be/to go) (they share the same conjugation in this tense):
fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Estar (also to be):
estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
Tener (to have):
tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
Hacer (to do/make):
hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
Poder (to can, to be able to):
pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
Poner (to put):
puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
Saber (to know):
supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
Venir (to come):
vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron
Decir (to say): dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron
Traer (to bring): traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron
Verbs with spelling changes.
Some verbs undergo spelling changes to maintain pronunciation:
Verbs ending in -CAR (c > qu):
buscar (to look for): busqué, buscaste, buscó…
tocar (to touch/play): toqué, tocaste, tocó…
Verbs ending in -GAR (g > gu):
llegar (to arrive): llegué, llegaste, llegó…
pagar (to pay): pagué, pagaste, pagó…
Verbs ending in -ZAR (z > c): empezar (to begin): empecé, empezaste, empezó…
almorzar (to have lunch): almorcé, almorzaste, almorzó…
Verbs ending in -GIR (g > j):
elegir (to choose): elegí, elegiste, eligió, elegimos, elegisteis, eligieron
Time markers for the preterite tense: certain time expressions usually accompany the preterite tense.
Specific moments:
ayer, anteayer, anoche (yesterday, the day before yesterday, last night)
el lunes/martes pasado (last Monday/Tuesday)
la semana pasada (last week)
el mes/año pasado (last month/year)
en 2020, en marzo, en verano (in 2020, in March, in summer)
Finished periods:
durante dos horas/días/años (for two hours/days/years)
de 2015 a 2020 (from 2015 to 2020)
desde enero hasta mayo (from January to May)
por la mañana/tarde/noche (in the morning/afternoon/evening – of a specific day)
Frequency expressions with limits:
una vez, dos veces, varias veces (once, twice, several times)
nunca (never – in past contexts) siempre
(always – when referring to a finished period)
Practical examples in context.
Personal narration.
El sábado pasado tuve un día increíble. Me levanté temprano, desayuné con mi familia y decidí ir al parque. Allí encontré a mis amigos y jugamos fútbol durante dos horas. Después fuimos a almorzar juntos y pasamos una tarde fantástica. Volví a casa muy cansado pero feliz.
(Last Saturday I had an incredible day. I got up early, had breakfast with my family, and decided to go to the park. There I found my friends and we played soccer for two hours. Afterward we went to have lunch together and spent a fantastic afternoon. I returned home very tired but happy.)
Biography.
Gabriel García Márquez nació en Colombia en 1927. Estudió derecho y periodismo, pero se dedicó principalmente a la literatura. Escribió numerosas novelas y cuentos, y ganó el Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1982. Murió en México en 2014.
(Gabriel García Márquez was born in Colombia in 1927. He studied law and journalism, but devoted himself mainly to literature. He wrote numerous novels and short stories, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. He died in Mexico in 2014).
Travel experiences.
El verano pasado visité España por primera vez. Llegué a Madrid y estuve allí tres días. Visité el Museo del Prado, caminé por el Retiro y probé tapas deliciosas. Después viajé a Barcelona, donde conocí la Sagrada Familia y disfruté de las playas.
(Last summer I visited Spain for the first time. I arrived in Madrid and was there for three days. I visited the Prado Museum, walked through the Retiro, and tried delicious tapas. Afterward I traveled to Barcelona, where I visited the Sagrada Familia and enjoyed the beaches.)
We have reached the end of this article. I hope it has been useful to you, here I leave you exercises to practice this topic and if you have doubts, write to me. Thanks for reading!
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