Past Tense Conjugation Spanish: Your Complete Guide

Spanish past tense usually confuses learners for one reason: English often says "was" or "did," but Spanish asks you to choose how the action happened in time. Was it completed? Ongoing? Habitual? Background? That is why preterite and imperfect both matter.

This guide gives you the system, not just isolated charts, so you can choose the correct tense while speaking.

The Two Core Past Tenses

Preterite (Pretérito)

• Completed, bounded actions
• Specific one-time events
• Storyline events that move the narrative forward

Imperfect (Imperfecto)

• Ongoing or repeated past actions
• Background descriptions (time, weather, mood, context)
• Habitual actions without a specific endpoint

Example pair:

• Ayer estudié dos horas. (preterite, completed event)
• Cuando vivía en Madrid, estudiaba cada noche. (imperfect, repeated habit)

Preterite Endings

-AR Verbs

• Yo: -é (hablé)
• Tú: -aste (hablaste)
• Él/Ella/Usted: -ó (habló)
• Nosotros: -amos (hablamos)
• Vosotros: -asteis (hablasteis)
• Ellos/Ustedes: -aron (hablaron)

-ER/-IR Verbs

• Yo: -í (comí)
• Tú: -iste (comiste)
• Él/Ella/Usted: -ió (comió)
• Nosotros: -imos (comimos)
• Vosotros: -isteis (comisteis)
• Ellos/Ustedes: -ieron (comieron)

Regular preterite endings are stable, so once they are automatic, your main challenge becomes tense choice and irregular verbs.

Imperfect Endings

-AR Verbs

• Yo: -aba (hablaba)
• Tú: -abas (hablabas)
• Él/Ella/Usted: -aba (hablaba)
• Nosotros: -ábamos (hablábamos)
• Vosotros: -abais (hablabais)
• Ellos/Ustedes: -aban (hablaban)

-ER/-IR Verbs

• Yo: -ía (comía)
• Tú: -ías (comías)
• Él/Ella/Usted: -ía (comía)
• Nosotros: -íamos (comíamos)
• Vosotros: -íais (comíais)
• Ellos/Ustedes: -ían (comían)

Imperfect endings are highly regular, which makes them easier to conjugate than preterite.

Key Irregular Past Tense Verbs

Ser/Ir (Same in Preterite!)

• fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

Estar

• estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron

Tener

• tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

Hacer

• hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

Add these high-frequency irregulars to your short-term memory first. They appear constantly in conversation.

When in doubt, ask:

1. Did it finish as a single event?
2. Am I describing context rather than the main event?

These percentages are not a rule, but they reflect how many real narratives work: preterite advances action, imperfect paints context.

When to Use Each in Practice

Use Preterite for:

• Completed actions: Ayer fui al cine.
• Specific events: El año pasado viajé a España.
• Interruptions or sudden events: De repente sonó el teléfono.

Use Imperfect for:

• Ongoing actions: Estaba estudiando cuando llegaste.
• Descriptions: Era una persona amable.
• Habits: Iba al parque todos los días.

Side-by-Side Examples

• Leí el libro en dos días. (preterite: completed)

• Leía mucho cuando era adolescente. (imperfect: habitual)

• Hizo frío ayer. (preterite: specific day)

• Hacía frío en invierno. (imperfect: general past condition)

• Vivimos en Sevilla tres años. (preterite: completed period)

• Vivíamos en Sevilla cuando nació mi hija. (imperfect: background context)

Frequent Learner Mistakes

1. Using preterite for every past sentence because it feels concrete.
2. Using imperfect where a bounded event is clearly completed.
3. Ignoring context markers like ayer, siempre, de repente.
4. Translating directly from English without deciding viewpoint.

Practice Prompt

Write about your last weekend in 10 sentences:

• Use preterite for the main events (what happened).
• Use imperfect for background (how things were, what was happening, what was habitual).

Then explain why you chose each tense. That reflection step is where grammar becomes intuition.

Final Takeaway

Past tense in Spanish is not about "past = one form." It is about perspective. Preterite and imperfect work together: one drives action, one builds context. Master that contrast and your spoken Spanish becomes clearer, more precise, and more natural. If you want live correction while telling past stories, try Parlai after completing the practice prompt.