Lecture Notes: Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish

Introduction

• Virtual Teacher: Mónica from Say Zonte
• Topic: Learning the "Pretérito Indefinido" in Spanish

Understanding Pretérito Indefinido

• Used for actions completed in the past
• Example sentences:
  • Last week I climbed the Ilamatepec Volcano.
  • The day before yesterday I ate pupusas at El Zonte.
  • I talked to my friend Camilo yesterday.

Temporal Phrases Indicating Pretérito Indefinido

• Ayer (yesterday)
• Anoche (last night)
• En 2019 (in 2019)
• La semana pasada (last week)
• Hace dos días (two days ago)

Conjugation of Regular Verbs

-AR Verbs

• Example: "hablar" (to talk/speak)
  • I talked/spoke
  • You talked/spoke
  • She/he talked/spoke
  • We talked/spoke
  • You (pl.) talked/spoke
  • They talked/spoke

-ER Verbs

• Example: "comer" (to eat)
  • I ate
  • You ate
  • He/she ate
  • We ate
  • You (pl.) ate
  • They ate

-IR Verbs

• Example: "subir" (to climb)
  • I climbed
  • You climbed
  • He/she climbed
  • We climbed
  • You (pl.) climbed
  • They climbed

Irregular Verbs

Completely Irregular Verbs

• "ser" (to be) and "ir" (to go)
  • I was/went
  • You were/went
  • He/she was/went
  • We were/went
  • You (pl.) were/went
  • They were/went

Other Irregular Verbs

• Examples: "estar" (to be), "tener" (to have), "poder" (to be able to), "poner" (to put)
• Stem changes and no accent marks on first and second person singular
• Example: "The day before yesterday my friend was at the beach."

Stem-changing Irregular Verbs

• Examples: "decir" (to say), "traducir" (to translate), "traer" (to bring/carry)
• Changes in third person plural and verb stem
• No accent marks
• Example: "My friend Camilo told me that everything is fine."

Verbs with Two Vowels in a Row

• Examples: "creer" (to believe/think), "leer" (to read), "caer" (to fall)
• Example: "My friend Camilo read a book yesterday."

"O" to "U" Change in Third Person

• Verbs: "morir" (to die), "dormir" (to sleep)
• Example: "Last night Camilo fell asleep at 9 p.m."

First Person Singular Changes

• Examples: "empezar" (to begin/start), "sacar" (to remove), "jugar" (to play)
• Example: "Yesterday I started my surf lessons."

Conclusion

• Encouragement to visit the website for more Spanish lessons.
• Closing remarks: "See you soon!"