The past tense

3.20.12

We conjugate verbs in Spanish by:◦ Dropping the last two letters from the infinitive

comer com

◦ Adding the appropriate ending to the stem Yo com como

These conjugations not only communicate WHO is doing the action but they also communicate WHEN

Yo como = I eat / I am eating (present tense)

The preterit conjugations are used to express that an action took place in the PAST

In English, most verbs in the past tense end in –ed

Yesterday I walked to school. Other verbs require a special form in the

past, such as went, was, did, ran, said, etc.

We have already learned the preterit conjugations for verbs ending in –ar ◦ (yo) -é (nosotros) -amos◦ (tú) -aste (vosotros) -asteis◦ (él/ella) -ó (ellos/ellas) -aron usted ustedes

Ejemplo: mirar◦ Miré I watched◦ Miraste You watched◦ Miró He/She/You watched ◦ Miramos We watched◦ Miraron They/You all watched

Regular verbs that end in –er and –ir follow a similar pattern to the –ar verbs.

In the preterit, -er & -ir verbs endings are IDENTICAL

◦ (yo) -í (nosotros) -imos◦ (tú) -iste (vosotros) -isteis◦ (él/ella) -ió (ellos/ellas) -ieron usted ustedes

VENDER COMER

Yo vendí Yo Tú vendiste Tú Maria vendió Pete Nosotros vendimos Nosotros Los amigos vendieron Las chicas

ESCRIBIR DESCRIBIR

Yo escribí Yo Tú escribiste Tú El director escribió Ella Tú y yo escribimos Nosotros Jo y Jane escribieron Ellas

In the preterit tense, many verbs have irregular stems (spelling changes)◦ Ir Fui, fuiste, …◦ Hacer Hice, hicicste, …◦ Decir Dije, dijiste, … ◦ Estar Estuve, estuviste

YO only: (-car, -gar, -zar)◦ Buscar yo busqué◦ Navegar yo navegué◦ Almorzar yo almorcée

Mandar:

I sent________________Did you send?________________We sent________________

Recibir:

She received________________They received ________________I didn’t receive ________________