A2. Summary of Spanish Preterite. Regular (I)

The preterite tense is used to refer to actions that occurred at a fixed point in time.

I called at 1:00
Llamé a la una.

The preterite tense is also used to refer to actions in the past that were performed a specific number of times.

I called you twice.
Te llamé dos veces.

The preterite tense is also used to refer to actions that occurred during a specific enclosed period of time.

He lived there for 5 years.
Él vivió allí por cinco años.

The preterite is also used for actions that are part of a chain of events.

I bought a hat, sat down on a bench and fell asleep.
Compré un sombrero, me senté en un banco y me dormí.

The preterite is also used for sudden changes of mood, feelings or opinions.

At that moment, I was not afraid.
En ese momento, no tuve miedo.

The preterite is frequently associated with markers that point a particular occasion or specific time frame. Here you have some examples:

ayer
yesterday

ayer por la mañana
yesterday morning

ayer por la tarde
yesterday afternoon

anoche
last night

el año pasado
last year

el lunes por la noche
Monday night

el mes pasado
last month

el otro día
the other day

If the action is in the past, and you can determine precisely when it occurred, or how many times it occurred, then you will use the preterite.

Regular forms of the preterite are formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb:

-ar verbs example: hablar
Habl—é
Habl—aste
Habl—ó
Habl—amos
Habl—asteis
Habl—aron

-er verbs, -ir verbs examples: comer, vivir
Viv—í
Viv—iste
Viv—ió
iViv—mos
Viv—isteis
Viv—ieron

comí
comiste
comió
comimos
comisteis
comieron