Las terminaciones del pretérito — Preterite Endings
📚 Las terminaciones del pretérito — Preterite Endings
| Pronombre | hablar (to speak) — -ar | comer (to eat) — -er | vivir (to live) — -ir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | viví |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | viviste |
| él/ella/usted | habló | comió | vivió |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros | hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hablaron | comieron | vivieron |
The -ER and -IR preterite endings are identical — learn them once for both.
In regular preterite, the yo and él/ella/usted forms always carry a written accent. This is not a decoration — it is a meaning-changing distinction that separates present tense from past tense.
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⚠️ Errores frecuentes — Two Traps to Avoid
❌ Error 1: Ayer yo llege al colegio.
✅ Correcto: Ayer yo llegué al colegio.
Por qué: llegar ends in -gar. In the yo preterite, -gar verbs change g → gu before the -é ending to preserve the hard /g/ sound. Writing llegé would be pronounced incorrectly (soft g). The spelling change is llegué — the accent on the u confirms you still need the written accent on the ending. Other -gar verbs follow the same pattern: jugar → jugué, pagar → pagué.
❌ Error 2: Nosotros vivimos en Barcelona. (without context — this sentence is ambiguous!)
✅ Correcto: El año pasado vivimos en Barcelona, pero ahora vivimos en Madrid.
Por qué: The nosotros -ir preterite form (vivimos) is identical to the nosotros present tense. Without a time marker, the sentence could mean "We live in Barcelona" (present) OR "We lived in Barcelona" (preterite). Always include a time marker such as el año pasado, ayer, or la semana pasada to make the tense unambiguous — in reading and listening tasks, the time marker is often your only clue. The same trap applies to -ar nosotros: hablamos (present and preterite are identical).
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 13
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