Past Tense Spanish: Preterite Conjugations & Verb Endings (Charts) (2024)

The past tense Spanish conjugation is necessary for describing situations and events that have already happened. Preterite endings are one of the basic building blocks of Spanish that are fundamental to any conversation. Once you learn these conjugations, you’ll be able to talk about so much more with friends and family!

[This is Part 3 of a guide to conjugating Spanish verbs. In previous posts, we’ve reviewed the basics ofconjugating Spanish verbs, as well ashow to conjugate stem-changers.]

What Are the 5 Past Tenses in Spanish?

Depending on who you talk to and how much experience each Spanish speaker has, there are anywhere between three and five different past tenses in Spanish.

The big ones include:

• Simple past tense (also known as the preterite tense Spanish or “pasado simple”)
• Imperfect past tense
• Past progressive tense
• Present perfect tense
• Past perfect tense

Here’s a video to tell you a bit more about some Spanish verbs:

Why Learn the Preterite Endings?

If you’ve learned the basics of verb conjugation in the present tense, you’ve probably realized how limited you are without knowing the past tense versions of the verbs. Trying to describe only what’s happening in the immediate present, without being able to explain what happened even five seconds ago, is nearly impossible! This reveals how important it is to learn the preterite tense or Spanish past conjugation tense.

In this post, we’re going to take your verb conjugation skills to a higher level. This involveslearning Spanishpreterite conjugationsso that you aren’t restricted to only describing actions that are happening in the here and now.

When is Preterite Spanish Past Tense Conjugation Necessary?

The preterite tense is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past. Usually, it is meant to discuss specific beginnings and ends as well as things that took place on specific dates or days or at specific times.

This Spanish verb tense can also be used to discuss past events that took place in a sequence, such as when you are listing various items that occurred in the past.

How to Conjugate Past Tense Verbs in Spanish

Before we dive in, it’s important to note that there are two types of the Spanish past tense conjugation: thepreterite and the imperfect.Here, we’ll start with Spanish preterite conjugation and review the imperfect in a future post.

The Spanish preterite tense is a way to express the past, and it breaks down verbs into five different endings. Keep reading to learn how to change a verb into its past tense form by using preterite endings.

Spnaihs Verbs -AR Endings Preterite Tense

Here is an example using the Spanish verb mirar(to watch). First, shave off the -ar ending. Then…

• If you are referring to Yoor ‘I,’ add the letter é to end the conjugated verb, forming miré.
• When you are referring to Túor ‘you,’ use the ending –aste, to form miraste.
• If you are referring to élor ella or ‘he’ or ‘she,’ use the ending –óto form miró.
• To refer to nosotrosor ‘we,’ use the ending –amosto form miramos. (This is the same as present tense conjugation!)
• If you are referring to ellosor ‘they,’ use the ending –aron, to form miraron.

SEE ALSO: 46 Spanish Adjectives to Describe All Your Friends

Conjugating-ERVerbs in the Spanish Preterite Tense

Now let’s usecomer (to eat), as an example. First, shave off the -er ending. Next…