Overview
This lecture explains how to use and conjugate the Spanish pretérito indefinido, focusing on its forms, usage, and key differences from other past tenses.
Overview of Spanish Past Tenses
- Spanish has three main past tenses: pretérito perfecto, pretérito indefinido, and pretérito imperfecto.
- "Pretérito" means "past" in Spanish grammar.
- There's no direct translation for these tenses in English; context determines the best use.
- Pretérito perfecto and indefinido are for completed actions; imperfecto is for descriptions and background in the past.
Conjugation of Pretérito Indefinido
Regular Conjugation
- Drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and add specific endings for each subject.
- Example: For -ar verbs: hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron.
Irregular Conjugation
Group 1: 100% Irregular Verbs
- Some verbs (ser, ir, dar) are fully irregular and do not follow a pattern.
Group 2: Irregular Stem
- Verbs use a changed stem and the same set of endings for all subjects.
- Common verbs: estar (estuv-), hacer (hic-), querer (quis-).
- When the stem ends in -j, third person plural uses -eron (ex: dijeron, trajeron).
Group 3: Third Person Irregular
- Some verbs change stem vowels only in the third person (él/ella/ellos/ellas).
- Examples: dormir (durmió, durmieron), leer (leyó, leyeron), vestir (vistió, vistieron).
Usage of Pretérito Indefinido
- Used for actions completed during a specific and finished period (e.g., yesterday, last month).
- Used to state how many times something happened in a completed time frame.
- Used for main actions in the past; interrupted or background actions use imperfecto.
- Signal words: ayer (yesterday), la semana pasada (last week), en 2011 (in 2011).
Key Terms & Definitions
- Pretérito indefinido — Spanish simple past tense for completed, time-specific actions.
- Regular verb — Verb that follows a predictable conjugation pattern.
- Irregular verb — Verb that does not follow standard conjugation rules.
- Imperfecto — Spanish past tense for descriptions or ongoing states in the past.
- Stem change — Change in the main part of the verb before adding endings.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Practice with the provided worksheet of 23 sentences in pretérito indefinido.
- Review examples of different conjugation types.
- Listen to recommended Spanish songs to reinforce learning.