The preterit of regular verbs and -car, -zar, -gar ending verbs Flashcards
What is the preterit tense?
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.
What are the conjugations for
regular -ar ending verbs?
Here are the conjugations for
regular -ar ending verbs:
yo > -é
tú > -aste
usted, él, ella > -ó
nosotros, nosotras > -amos
ustedes, ellos, ellas > -aron
What are the conjugations
for regular -er and -ir ending verbs?
Both -er and -ir endings for regular verbs have the same conjugations:
yo > -í
tú > iste
usted, él, ella > -ó
nosotros, nosotras > imos
ustedes, ellos, ellas > -ieron
For example,
What is the conjugation in the preterit
of hablar?
yo hablé
tú hablaste
usted, él, ella habló
nosotros, nosotras hablamos
ustedes, ellos, ellas hablaron
What is the preterit conjugation of
aprender?
yo aprendí
tú aprendiste
usted, él, ella aprendió
nosotros, nosotras aprendimos
ustedes, ellas, ellos aprendieron
What about verbs ending in
-car, -gar, -zar?
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.
Ok, what are the spelling changes and conjugations
for verbs ending in
-car like buscar?
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
What the spelling changes and conjugations
for verbs ending in -gar like pagar?
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
What are the spelling changes and conjugations for
-zar ending verbs like comenzar?
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
What are the uses for the past tense preterit?
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.*
What are some key words use in the past tense preterit?
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.
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
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