Past Tenses Review

Congratulations on reaching the final lesson! This review brings together everything you have learned about the preterite and imperfect tenses. Use this as a comprehensive reference guide for study and practice.

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Part 1: Preterite — Complete Reference

Regular Preterite Endings

Person	-AR verbs	-ER/-IR verbs
yo	-é	-í
tú	-aste	-iste
él/ella/usted	-ó	-ió
nosotros/as	-amos	-imos
vosotros/as	-asteis	-isteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-aron	-ieron

Accent marks on yo and él/ella forms for regular verbs.

Spelling Changes (Yo Form Only)

Pattern	Change	Example
-car verbs	c → qu	buscar → busqué
-gar verbs	g → gu	llegar → llegué
-zar verbs	z → c	empezar → empecé
-eer verbs	i → y (3rd person)	leer → leyó, leyeron

Irregular Preterite Stems

Infinitive	Stem	Yo	Él/Ella	Ellos
tener	tuv-	tuve	tuvo	tuvieron
estar	estuv-	estuve	estuvo	estuvieron
poder	pud-	pude	pudo	pudieron
poner	pus-	puse	puso	pusieron
saber	sup-	supe	supo	supieron
querer	quis-	quise	quiso	quisieron
venir	vin-	vine	vino	vinieron
hacer	hic-/hiz-	hice	hizo	hicieron
decir	dij-	dije	dijo	dijeron*
traer	traj-	traje	trajo	trajeron*
conducir	conduj-	conduje	condujo	condujeron*

*J-stem verbs drop the i in ellos: dijeron (not dijieron)

No accent marks on irregular preterite yo and él/ella forms.

Completely Irregular Preterite Verbs

Person	Ser / Ir	Dar
yo	fui	di
tú	fuiste	diste
él/ella/usted	fue	dio
nosotros/as	fuimos	dimos
vosotros/as	fuisteis	disteis
ellos/ustedes	fueron	dieron

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Part 2: Imperfect — Complete Reference

Regular Imperfect Endings

Person	-AR verbs	-ER/-IR verbs
yo	-aba	-ía
tú	-abas	-ías
él/ella/usted	-aba	-ía
nosotros/as	-ábamos	-íamos
vosotros/as	-abais	-íais
ellos/ellas/ustedes	-aban	-ían

The Only Three Irregular Verbs

Person	Ser	Ir	Ver
yo	era	iba	veía
tú	eras	ibas	veías
él/ella/usted	era	iba	veía
nosotros/as	éramos	íbamos	veíamos
vosotros/as	erais	ibais	veíais
ellos/ustedes	eran	iban	veían

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Part 3: Preterite vs Imperfect — Quick Decision Guide

Use PRETERITE when...	Use IMPERFECT when...
The action is completed	The action is ongoing with no stated end
It happened a specific number of times	It happened habitually (used to)
It has a stated duration	There is no stated duration
It advances the plot	It provides background / description
It is a reaction or sudden event	It describes a state, feeling, or condition
Signal: ayer, una vez, de repente	Signal: siempre, cada día, mientras

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Part 4: Verbs That Change Meaning

Verb	Imperfect	Preterite
saber	knew	found out
conocer	knew / was familiar with	met (first time)
querer	wanted	tried to
no querer	didn't want	refused
poder	was able to (ability)	managed to (succeeded)
no poder	wasn't able to (general)	failed to (specific)
tener	had (state)	got / received
tener que	had to (ongoing)	had to (and did)

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Part 5: Signal Words Reference

Imperfect Signals

Word/Phrase	English
siempre	always
a menudo	often
frecuentemente	frequently
a veces	sometimes
cada día / semana / mes / año	every day / week / month / year
todos los días / lunes / veranos	every day / Monday / summer
generalmente	generally
normalmente	normally
de niño/a	as a child
en aquella época	in those days
mientras	while
mientras tanto	meanwhile

Preterite Signals

Word/Phrase	English
ayer	yesterday
anteayer	the day before yesterday
anoche	last night
la semana pasada	last week
el mes / año pasado	last month / year
hace dos días / semanas	two days / weeks ago
en 2020	in 2020
una vez	once
dos veces	twice
de repente	suddenly
en ese momento	at that moment
entonces	then
después	afterwards
luego	then / later
primero... luego...	first... then...
al final	in the end

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Part 6: Irregular Verb Cheat Sheet

Here is every irregular preterite verb from this course in alphabetical order: