Preterite Conjugations: Your Complete Guide

The preterite tense is one of the first grammar systems that makes Spanish feel truly expressive. Once you control it, you can tell stories, explain what happened, and report results clearly. Without it, most conversations stay stuck in present tense.

This guide covers regular and irregular conjugations, shows when preterite is required, and gives a practical workflow to turn forms into fluent speech.

Regular Preterite Endings

-AR Verbs (hablar, comprar, etc.)

-ER/-IR Verbs (comer, vivir, etc.)

These regular endings are stable, so they should become automatic quickly with repetition.

Common Irregular Preterite Verbs

Ser/Ir (Same Forms!)

Estar

Tener

Hacer

Other High-Frequency Irregular Stems

Learning these as stem families reduces confusion when speaking under pressure.

When to Use Preterite

• Completed actions: "Ayer comí pizza" (Yesterday I ate pizza)
• Specific past events: "Fui a España el año pasado" (I went to Spain last year)
• Series of completed actions: "Me levanté, me vestí, y salí" (I got up, got dressed, and left)

Use preterite when events are framed as complete units, even if duration was long:

• Viví en Chile durante cinco años.
• Trabajó en ese hospital de 2018 a 2021.

Preterite vs Imperfect

• Preterite = completed, one-time actions (I ate)
• Imperfect = ongoing, habitual, or descriptive past (I used to eat, I was eating)

If the sentence describes the "main event" in a narrative, preterite is often the right choice.

Common Time Markers

• ayer (yesterday)
• anoche (last night)
• la semana pasada (last week)
• el año pasado (last year)
• una vez (once)
• de repente (suddenly)

Markers help, but context is more important than vocabulary triggers alone.

Common Mistakes

1. Using present tense for past events
   Incorrect: Ayer como pizza.
   Correct: Ayer comí pizza.
2. Inventing regular forms for irregular verbs
   Incorrect: tení, hacé
   Correct: tuve, hice
3. Using preterite for background description
   Incorrect: Fue alto y simpático cuando era niño.
   Better: Era alto y simpático...
4. Ignoring plural agreement
   Incorrect: Nosotros tuve
   Correct: Nosotros tuvimos

Practice Set

Conjugate in preterite

1. tener (yo)
2. hacer (nosotros)
3. decir (ellos)
4. traer (tú)

Answers: tuve, hicimos, dijeron, trajiste

Choose preterite or imperfect

1. Ayer ___ al médico. (fui)
2. Cuando era niño, ___ al médico cada mes. (iba)
3. De repente ___ una idea. (tuve)

Final Takeaway

Preterite conjugation is less about memorizing one chart and more about choosing the right viewpoint: completed event versus ongoing context. Once regular endings and key irregular stems are stable, storytelling in Spanish becomes much easier. If you want structured speaking reps with immediate corrections, try Parlai after finishing the exercises.