The preterit of -ar, -car, -gar, -zar ending verbs

Question 1

What is the preterit tense?

Answer 1

The preterit tense, known in Spanish as el preterito, is a past tense used to describe actions completed at one point in the past or to describe actions that logically occured once in the past or that lasted a specific amount of time in the past and now they are completed.

For example,

• I got up this morning, got dressed and went to school.*
• I walked to school yesterday.*

Last night, I ate spaghetty.

Question 2

What are the conjugations for

regular -ar ending verbs?

Answer 2

Here are the conjugations for

regular -ar ending verbs:

yo > -é

tú > -aste

usted, él, ella > -ó

nosotros, nosotras > -amos

ustedes, ellos, ellas > -aron

Question 3

For example,

What is the conjugation in the preterit

of hablar?

Answer 3

yo hablé

tú hablaste

usted, él, ella habló

nosotros, nosotras hablamos

ustedes, ellos, ellas hablaron

Question 4

What about verbs ending in

-car, -gar, -zar?

Answer 4

These verbs have unique endings. Notice that you’re not just looking at the infinitive (-ar), but you’re also looking at the consonant (c, g, z) before the infinitive.

Thus, when you conjugate verbs in the preterit, you need to look at the letters before the infinitive as well.

Question 5

Ok, what are the spelling changes and conjugations

for verbs ending in

-car like buscar?

Answer 5

The conjugations are the same (-é, -aste, -ó, -amos,

-aron), but the “c” becomes “qué” in the “yo” form only.

For example, the preterit of buscar is as follows:

yo busqué

tú buscaste

usted, él, ella buscó

nosotros, nosotras buscamos

ustedes, ellos, ellas bucaron

Question 6

What the spelling changes and conjugations

for verbs ending in -gar like pagar?

Answer 6

Again, the conjugations in the past tense preterit are the same (-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron), but the “g” in “gar” becomes “gué” only in the “yo” form.

Here is the preterit of pagar:

yo pagué

tú pagaste

usted, él, ella pagó

nosotros, nosotras pagamos

ustedes, ellos, ellas pagaron

Question 7

What are the spelling changes and conjugations for

-zar ending verbs like comenzar?

Answer 7

The preterit conjugations are the same as with regular -ar ending verbs (-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron), but the

“z” changes to “c” in the “yo” form only.

Here is the preterit of comenzar

yo comencé

tú comenzaste

usted, él, ella comenzó

nosotros, nosotras comenzamos

ustedes, ellos, ellas comenzaron

Question 8

What are the uses for the past tense preterit?

Answer 8

The preterit is used to describe completed actions in the past. It indicates that a single event that took place in the past. These actions began and ended in the past.

The students began their lesson early.

It indicates an action that happened at or for a specific smount of time. These actions are completed at a definite moment in the past. They usually have a reference of a time frame in the sentence.

We studied for our test last night.

Use it to narrate a series of actions related to an event.

• I came. I saw. I conquered.*
• I woke up. I got up. I got ready. I went to school.*

Question 9

What are some key words use in the past tense preterit?

Answer 9

1- anoche

2- la semana pasada

3- hace ____ días

4- en la fiesta de ____

5- el 4 de julio

6- en la clase de español

7- ayer

8- any word, phrase, event that indicates precisely when the action began or ended or when it took place.

Question 10

Give a quick summary of the following:

1- describe the meaning of preterit

2- give the conjugations of regular -ar ending verbs

3- list the uses fo the past tense preterit

4.- describe what happens to verbs ending in -car

5- describe what happens to verbs ending in -zar

6- describe what happens to verbs ending in -gar

7- call out the forms that have accent marks

Answer 10

1- a past tense

2- -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron

3- to describe single, completed events that took place in the past

to describe a series of action related to a particular event

to describe actions that have a beginning and end in the past

4- the “c” changes to “qué” in the yo form only

5- the “z” changes to “cé” in the “yo” form only

6- the “g” changes to “gué” in the “yo” form only

7- yo > é,

ud., él, ella > ó