Master the Spanish simple past tense (pretérito indefinido) for completed actions in the past. Learn irregular verbs, usage, and common triggers.
The simple past tense, also known as the Preterite (Pretérito Indefinido or Pretérito Perfecto Simple), is used to describe actions or events that were completed at a specific point in the past.
The Preterite tense is used for:
Actions that began and ended at a definite time in the past.
Describing a series of completed actions in the past.
Me levanté, me duché y salí de casa. (I got up, I showered, and I left the house.)
Ella entró, vio la carta y sonrió. (She entered, saw the letter, and smiled.)
An action that interrupts another action that was in progress (often described with the Imperfect tense).
Yo leía (imperfect) cuando el teléfono sonó (preterite). (I was reading when the phone rang.)
Mientras caminábamos (imperfect), vimos (preterite) un accidente. (While we were walking, we saw an accident.)
Indicating the start or finish of a past action.
Conjugating verbs in the Preterite involves removing the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding the specific Preterite endings. Note that -er and -ir verbs share the same endings in the Preterite.
yo viví (I lived)
tú viviste (you lived)
él/ella/usted vivió (he/she/you lived)
nosotros/as vivimos (we lived)
vosotros/as vivisteis (you all lived [Spain])
ellos/ellas/ustedes vivieron (they/you all lived)
Watch out! The nosotros forms of regular -ar and -ir verbs in the Preterite are identical to their Present Tense forms (e.g., hablamos, vivimos). Context is key to understanding whether the present or past is meant.
The Preterite tense has many irregular verbs, often involving stem changes and unique sets of endings. Some common groups include:
These verbs change their stem vowel only in the third person singular (él/ella/usted) and plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) forms.
él/ella/usted pidió
ellos/ellas/ustedes pidieron
él/ella/usted durmió
ellos/ellas/ustedes durmieron
Other verbs in this group: sentir (sintió, sintieron), morir (murió, murieron), preferir (prefirió, prefirieron), seguir (siguió, siguieron), etc.
Some verbs change spelling in the 'yo' form to maintain the consonant sound.
Buscar: yo busqué
Llegar: yo llegué
Empezar: yo empecé
For -er and -ir verbs whose stem ends in a vowel, the 'i' of the third person endings changes to 'y'. These forms also gain accent marks on the 'i' in other forms.
yo leí
tú leíste
él/ella/usted leyó
nosotros/as leímos
vosotros/as leísteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes leyeron
yo construí
tú construíste
él/ella/usted construyó
nosotros/as construímos
vosotros/as construísteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes construyeron
Other verbs: caer (cayó, cayeron), creer (creyó, creyeron), oír (oyó, oyeron), huir (huyó, huyeron).
These verbs have unique stems in the Preterite and use a different set of endings (without accent marks):
Irregular Endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron (or -eron for J-stems)
tener → tuv- (tuve, tuviste...)
estar → estuv- (estuve, estuviste...)
poder → pud- (pude, pudiste...)
poner → pus- (puse, pusiste...)
saber → sup- (supe, supiste...)
haber → hub- (hube, hubiste...)
andar → anduv- (anduve, anduviste...)
querer → quis- (quise, quisiste...)
venir → vin- (vine, viniste...)
hacer → hic- (hice, hiciste, hizo ...)
decir → dij- (dije, dijiste..., dijeron)
traer → traj- (traje, trajiste..., trajeron)
conducir → conduj- (conduje, condujiste..., condujeron)
The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) have the exact same, highly irregular conjugation in the Preterite.
yo fui (I was / I went)
tú fuiste (you were / you went)
él/ella/usted fue (he/she/you was/were / he/she/you went)
nosotros/as fuimos (we were / we went)
vosotros/as fuisteis (you all were / you all went [Spain])
ellos/ellas/ustedes fueron (they/you all were / they/you all went)
Dar (to give) and Ver (to see) use the regular -er/-ir endings but without the accent marks.
The Preterite is often used with time expressions that indicate a specific, completed past time frame:
Ayer fuimos al cine.
Anoche cené con María.
Anteayer llegó mi hermano.
La semana pasada visité a mis abuelos.
El año pasado viajaron a Europa.
Compré este coche hace dos años.
Nació en 1995.
El otro día vi a Juan en el supermercado.
Una vez comí paella en Valencia.
One of the biggest challenges for Spanish learners is choosing between the Preterite and the Imperfect. Remember:
For a deeper dive into the imperfect side of this comparison, see our Spanish Imperfect Tense guide. Understanding when to reach for each tense is one of the biggest leaps you'll make in Spanish. You can also review all past tenses in our complete verb tenses guide.
Accents are crucial in the Preterite (yo and él/ella/usted forms of regular verbs). Omitting them can change the meaning or tense.
hablo (present) vs. habló (preterite)
como (present) vs. comió (preterite)
Memorizing the common irregular stems and endings is essential.
Incorrect: Yo tení
Correct: Yo tuve
Incorrect: Él hació
Correct: Él hizo
Use the Imperfect tense for descriptions of people, places, or situations in the past.
Incorrect: La casa fue grande y bonita.
Correct: La casa era grande y bonita.
Remember fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron apply to both verbs.
Context determines the meaning:
Fui a la tienda. (I went to the store - Ir)
Fui estudiante. (I was a student - Ser)
Ready to test your knowledge of the Spanish simple past tense? Head over to our Practice page and select the pretérito indefinido option to practice with unlimited new sentences and examples.
The practice tool will generate new sentences each time, allowing you to reinforce your understanding of preterite tense conjugations and usage in various contexts.
