-Using Past tense Verbs helps with the sentence flow and talking with others.
-Just like conjugating (Changing the ending 2-3 letters) into the present tense you can also use conjugating to make the verb into a past tense (Preterite verb)
- Preterite Verbs are basically Spanish Verbs that are being said in the past tense. Exactly the same as using the English past tense verbs ex: Kicked, Walked, and Talked
*In the Spanish language CONJUGATING works by changing the last couple letters so that you address a specific person or group
Conjugating in the preterite tense means that your saying that either a specific someone or group
-Er and - Ir Preterite Verb
Conjugations
- In the Spanish Language all verbs end with the 2 letters at the end of the word
They are either :
-ar ex: Caminar (to Walk)
-er ex: Comer (To Eat)
or
-ir ex: Destruir (To Destroy)
This post is mainly about the -Er and -Ir verbs because in the regular preterite verb conjugating in Spanish they are exactly the same
The way to Conjugate them is by changing the last 2 letters depending on the verb endings
there are six ways to conjugate a verb, each of which form a different meaning
1) Yo= I
2) Tu= You
3) El, la, Ella, Ello = He, She, It
4) Nosotros = We
5) Vosotros = a type of plural form of You [ You guys ]
6) Ellas, Ellos, Los, Las , etc.. = This is basically the plural form of Number 3
If you want to conjugate the verb for the -er and -ir endings you use the following conjugations
1) Yo= -í
2) Tu= -iste
3) Ello, Ella, El, La,....etc = -íó
4) Nosotros= -imos
5) Vosotros= -isteis
6) Ellos, Ellas, Los, Las... etc= -ió
So for the verbs Destruir and Comer the conjugations of the verb would be:
Yo:: Destruí / Comí Tu:: Destruiste / Comiste
Ello, Ella, El, La,...etc :: Destruió / Comió
Nosotros:: Destruimos / Comimos
*Vosotros:: Destruisteis / Comisteis
Ellos, Ellas, Los, Las:: Destruieron / Comieron
*if you are just learning this for school or other uses other than speaking in Spain or somewhere related to Spain then you most likely won't use this conjugated verb there.
-Ar Preterite Verb Conjugations
- In the Spanish Language all verbs end with the 2 letters at the end of the word
They are either
-ar ex: Caminar (to Walk)
-er ex: Comer (To Eat)
or
-ir ex: Destruir (To Destroy)
This post is mainly about the -Ar verbs
The way to Conjugate them is by changing the last 2 letters depending on the verb endings
there are six ways to conjugate a verb, each of which form a different meaning
1) yo= I
2) tu= You
3) El, la, Ella, Ello = He, She, It
4) Nosotros = We
5) Vosotros = a type of plural form of You [ You guys ]
6) Ellas, Ellos, Los, Las , etc.. = This is basically the plural form of Number 3
If you want to conjugate the verb for the -ar endings you use these conjugations:
-AR Verb Conjugations in the Preterite
Yo= -é Tu= -aste
Ello, Ella= -ó
Nosotros= -amos
Vosotros= -asteís
Ellos, Ellas= -aron So.. Because the conjugation system is setup as shown above the way to conjugate Caminar in the preterite would be::
Ex: For the Verb Caminar (To walk)
Yo= Caminé
Tu= Caminaste
Ello, Ella= Caminó
Nosotros= Caminamos
Vosotros= Caminasteís
Ellos, Ellas= Caminaron
Irregular Preterite Verb Conjugations
When conjugating verbs in the preterite tense, you are indicating that these actions are completed and in the past.
Typically, the conjugations include:
For –ar verbs
Yo-é
Tu-aste
El/Ella/Ud.- ó
Nosotros-amos
Ellos/Ellas/Uds.-aron
*These endings replace the ar that is already in the “to” form of the verb
For –er/ir verbs
Yo- í
Tu- iste
El/Ella/Ud.- ió
Nosotros-imos
Ellos/Ellas/Uds.-ieron
*These endings replace the ei/ir that is already in the “to” form of the verb
However, some verbs have exceptions, and these are known as irregular verbs.
For example, the verb poner
As opposed to the conjugation rules listed above, poner is conjugated as follows:
Puse
Pusimos
Pusiste
Puso Pusieron
These rules are strange, but just have to be memorized.
Other irregulars listed below (conjugation in order-yo, tu, el/ella/ud, nos, ellos/ellas/uds)
Estar- estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron
Querer- quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisieron
Tener- tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvieron
Venir- vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinieron
Saber- supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supieron
These verbs typically follow patterns when conjugated; usually just a single or double letter change.
