6.A Preterite regular verbs
Preterite and imperfect are used to talk about actions that occurred in the past. Preterite is used to express actions or states that are completed in the past.
The following charts will demonstrate the endings for AR, ER and IR verbs.
- ER and IR verbs have identical endings.
| AR verbs | ER verbs | IR verbs |
| Yo- é | Yo- í | Yo- í |
| Tú- aste | Tú- iste | Tú- iste |
| Él/ella/usted- ó | Él/ella/usted- ió | Él/ella/usted- ió |
| Nosotros/as- amos | Nosotros/as- imos | Nosotros/as- imos |
| Vosotros/as- asteis | Vosotros/as- isteis | Vosotros/as- isteis |
| Ellos/ellas/ustedes- aron | Ellos/ellas/ustedes- ieron | Ellos/ellas/ustedes- ieron |
Stem changing verbs
IR verbs are the only ones that have a stem change in the preterite.
The stem change occurs in the third-person in singular and the third-person in plural forms.
| e: i | o: u |
Verbs ending in CAR, GAR and ZAR have a spelling change in the YO form
| YO | NOSOTROS/NOSOTRAS |
| TÚ | VOSOTROS/VOSOTRAS |
| ÉL/ELLA/USTED | ELLOS/ELLAS/USTEDES |
CAR– “c” changes to “qu” Buscar= yo busco Yo buscqué—- Yo busqué
GAR– “g” changes to “gu” Cargar= yo cargo—– Yo cargué
ZAR– “z” changes to “c” Empezar= yo empiezo (remember no stem-changing in ar verbs) yo empecé
Spelling changes:
Creer- to believe
| Yo- creí | Nosotros/as- creímos |
| tú- creíste | Vosotros/as- creísteis |
| él/ella/usted- creyó | Ellos/ellas/ustedes- creyeron |
Leer- to read
| Yo- leí | Nosotros/as- leímos |
| tú- leíste | Vosotros/as- leísteis |
| él/ella/usted- leyó | Ellos/ellas/ustedes- leyeron |
Oír- to hear
| Yo- oí | Nosotros/as-oímos |
| tú- oíste | Vosotros/as- oísteis |
| él/ella/usted- oyó | Ellos/ellas/ustedes- oyeron |
Acabar+ de+ infinitive is used to talk about actions that just occurred.