Pretérito Perfecto Simple
The pretérito perfecto simple (also called pretérito indefinido) is used to describe completed actions in the past that occurred at a specific point in time. It's commonly used for events that happened once, actions that were completed, or a series of completed actions. Unlike the imperfect tense, the preterite emphasizes that the action has a definite beginning and end.
Just like in the present tense, Spanish verbs are divided into three groups based on their infinitive endings: -AR, -ER, and -IR. However, in the preterite, -ER and -IR verbs share the same endings.
| Pronoun | -AR verbs | -ER/-IR verbs |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -é | -í |
| Tú | -aste | -iste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | -ó | -ió |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | -amos | -imos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | -asteis | -isteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | -aron | -ieron |
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | hablé |
| Tú | hablaste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | habló |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | hablamos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | hablasteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | hablaron |
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | comí |
| Tú | comiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | comió |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | comimos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | comisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | comieron |
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | viví |
| Tú | viviste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | vivió |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | vivimos |
| Vosotros/Vosotras | vivisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | vivieron |
Important: Unlike the present tense, irregular preterite verbs follow more predictable patterns. Learning these categories will help you master most irregular verbs. However, always learn each verb together with its specific stem or irregularity pattern.
There are two main categories of irregular verbs in the preterite tense:
These verbs have an irregular stem that you must learn, and they use special endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron (notice there are no accents!).
You must memorize the new stem, then add the special endings:
| Yo | tuve |
| Tú | tuviste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | tuvo |
| Nosotros | tuvimos |
| Vosotros | tuvisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | tuvieron |
| Yo | estuve |
| Tú | estuviste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | estuvo |
| Nosotros | estuvimos |
| Vosotros | estuvisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | estuvieron |
| Yo | hice |
| Tú | hiciste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | hizo |
| Nosotros | hicimos |
| Vosotros | hicisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | hicieron |
| Yo | pude |
| Tú | pudiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | pudo |
| Nosotros | pudimos |
| Vosotros | pudisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | pudieron |
| Yo | puse |
| Tú | pusiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | puso |
| Nosotros | pusimos |
| Vosotros | pusisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | pusieron |
| Yo | supe |
| Tú | supiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | supo |
| Nosotros | supimos |
| Vosotros | supisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | supieron |
| Yo | vine |
| Tú | viniste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | vino |
| Nosotros | vinimos |
| Vosotros | vinisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | vinieron |
| Yo | quise |
| Tú | quisiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | quiso |
| Nosotros | quisimos |
| Vosotros | quisisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | quisieron |
Plus: andar (anduv-), conducir (conduj-), producir (produj-), traducir (traduj-), and others.
These verbs follow the same pattern but have slight variations:
| Yo | fui |
| Tú | fuiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | fue |
| Nosotros | fuimos |
| Vosotros | fuisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | fueron |
⚠️ Ser and Ir share the exact same conjugation!
| Yo | dije |
| Tú | dijiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | dijo |
| Nosotros | dijimos |
| Vosotros | dijisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | dijeron |
⚠️ Notice: dijeron (not dijieron)
| Yo | traje |
| Tú | trajiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | trajo |
| Nosotros | trajimos |
| Vosotros | trajisteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | trajeron |
⚠️ Notice: trajeron (not trajieron)
Verbs ending in -ducir (conducir, producir, traducir) also have -jeron in the ellos form.
These verbs are regular except in the third person singular (él/ella/usted) and third person plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) forms. All of these verbs are -IR ending verbs.
The stem vowel "e" changes to "i" only in the third person forms:
Pedir (to ask for)
pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
Servir (to serve)
serví, serviste, sirvió, servimos, servisteis, sirvieron
Vestir (to dress)
vestí, vestiste, vistió, vestimos, vestisteis, vistieron
Repetir (to repeat)
repetí, repetiste, repitió, repetimos, repetisteis, repitieron
Seguir (to follow)
seguí, seguiste, siguió, seguimos, seguisteis, siguieron
Sentir (to feel)
sentí, sentiste, sintió, sentimos, sentisteis, sintieron
Also: conseguir, preferir, mentir, reír, sonreír, elegir, medir, competir, corregir, and others.
The stem vowel "o" changes to "u" only in the third person forms. There are only two verbs in this category:
Dormir (to sleep)
dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
Morir (to die)
morí, moriste, murió, morimos, moristeis, murieron
⚠️ These are the ONLY two verbs with this pattern!
| Yo | di |
| Tú | diste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | dio |
| Nosotros | dimos |
| Vosotros | disteis |
| Ellos/Ustedes | dieron |
⚠️ Dar is the only -AR verb that uses -ER/-IR endings (but without accents)!
When a verb stem ends in a vowel, the "i" in the third person preterite endings (-ió, -ieron) changes to "y" (-yó, -yeron). This happens to avoid having three vowels in a row, which would be difficult to pronounce.
Important Connection: This same i → y change also appears in the gerund (continuous/progressive form) of these verbs! For example: leer → leyó (preterite) and leyendo (gerund).
Leer (to read)
leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron
Caer (to fall)
caí, caíste, cayó, caímos, caísteis, cayeron
Oír (to hear)
oí, oíste, oyó, oímos, oísteis, oyeron
Construir (to build)
construí, construiste, construyó, construimos, construisteis, construyeron
Creer (to believe)
creí, creíste, creyó, creímos, creísteis, creyeron
Traer (to bring)
traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron
⚠️ Traer is irregular (traj-), but still follows the pattern in ellos: trajeron (not trajieron)
Also: destruir, incluir, concluir, contribuir, huir, and all verbs ending in -uir. Note: Some of these verbs (like traer) are irregular with their own stems, but still follow the i → y pattern in the third person.
Learning alone is hard. We'll help you find a tutor who makes it easy. You've got the motivation; we've got the tutors. Let's make it happen.