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Spanish Verb Conjugation: Indicative Mood: Preterite Tense
Preterite Tense: Regular -AR Verbs

©RCAguilar

OBJECTIVE:
Use the Regular AR Master Verb List (you'll find a link down there somewhere) ... and use only 1 form at a time ... yo, ... or tú, ... or él, ... or whichever ... and make up some one word sentences ... just made-up stuff that "happened."
TASK:
Your task is to fulfill your objective.
PERPLEXED?
Keep smiling! Hang in there! It really does get worse !!!
What do I have to watch out for here?
A funny thing about verbs is how much meaning is attached to any given single stem. Like habl infers somebody speaking, and com infers some creature devouring some sort of sustenance.
Endings attached to these "sounds" make all the difference in the world in Spanish, since they tell who is doing it and when.
Well, if you compare the present tense hablo (I speak, I'm speaking, I do speak) to the 3rd person singular preterite form habló, you come up with only a stress shift ... and a whole new meaning: HE spoke, or SHE spoke, or USTED spoke.
I guess what I'm telling you is: watch out for where you put the stress on the words, once the ending has been attached. Keep up with those accented sounds - stressed sounds - and you'll have it!

 
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VERB CONJUGATION
Indicative Mood
Present Tense
Regular -ar Verbs
Regular -er Verbs
Regular -ir Verbs
Stem e -> ie
Stem o -> ue
Stem e -> i
Stem iar: i -> í
Stem uar: u -> ú
Stem uir: i -> y
Stem ger/gir: g -> j
Yo form -oy
Yo form -zco
Yo form -go
Imperfect Tense
AR Verbs
ER & IR Verbs
Preterite Tense
Regular AR Verbs
Ending -car
Ending -gar
Ending -zar
ER/IR Verbs
ER/IR Verbs vowel Stem
IR Stem-changers
Irregular Stems
Future Tense
Regular Verbs
Irregular Stems
Conditional Tense
Regular Verbs
Irregular Stems
Progressive Tenses
Perfect Tenses

Reference
Subject Pronouns
yo
nosotros
nosotras
tú*
vosotros
vosotras
él
ella
Usted
ellos
ellas
Ustedes
*In some countries in Central & South America vos is used instead of .

Reflexive Pronouns
me nos
te os
se  se

Direct Object Pronouns
me nos
te os
lo
la
lo/la
los
las
los/las

Indirect Object Pronouns
me nos
te os
le les
Preterite Tense: -AR verb conjugation
 
Most AR verbs are not affected by irregularities in any way in the formation of the preterite tense.
An important factor to watch in the formation of some verbs is spelling changes.
A few AR verbs are irregular, but for the most part the pattern below will be valid.
Stem changes that occur in the present tense DO NOT AFFECT the preterite tense formation in AR verbs.
yo -é nosotros, nosotras -amos
-aste vosotros, vosotras -asteis
él, ella, Usted -ó ellos, ellas, Ustedes -aron
 
ignore
cantar to sing, chant singen
continuar
(u -> ú)
to continue weitermachen
encontrar
(o -> ue)
to meet, encounter treffen
esquiar
(i - í)
to ski skifahren, skilaufen
hablar to speak sprechen
jugar
(u -> ue)
to play (sports, games) spielen, treiben
pensar
(e -> ie)
to think denken
preguntar to ask (a question) fragen
trabajar to work, labor arbeiten
To make the preterite forms, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add the endings given above.
Notice that the NOSOTROS form is exactly the same in the present & preterite tenses.
To see the preterite tense conjugated forms of these verbs, click on a pronoun below:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Yo form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and addto the stem.
This is an event. This is what I did.
deutsch
cantar canté I sang I did sing, chant
ich habe gesungen
continuar continué I continued I did continue
ich habe weitergemacht
encontrar encontré I met, encountered I did meet, encounter
ich habe getroffen
esquiar esquié I skied I did ski
ich bin Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablé I spoke I did speak
ich habe gesprochen
jugar jugué * I played I did play
ich habe gespielt
pensar pensé I thought I did think
ich habe gedacht
preguntar pregunté I asked (questions) I did ask (questions)
ich habe gefragt
trabajar trabajé I worked, labored I did work, labor
ich habe gearbeitet
The pronoun YO does not need to be stated in the preterite.
It is already clear by the ending that YO is doing the action.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aste to the stem.
Tex-Mex forms of these verbs invert the ending somewhat, so that people generally add the ending -ates.
This is the event. This is what you did.
deutsch
cantar cantaste you sang you did sing, chant
du hast gesungen
continuar continuaste you continued you did continue
du hast weitergemacht
encontrar encontraste you met, encountered you did meet, encounter
du hast getroffen
esquiar esquiaste you skied you did ski
du bist Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablaste you spoke you did speak
du hast gesprochen
jugar jugaste you played you did play
du hast gespielt
pensar pensaste you thought you did think
du hast gedacht
preguntar preguntaste you asked (questions) you did ask (questions)
du hast gefragt
trabajar trabajaste you worked, labored you did work, labor
du hast gearbeitet
The pronoun does not need to be stated in the preterite.
It is already clear by the ending that is doing the action.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Él form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and addto the stem.
This is the event. This is what he did.
deutsch
cantar cantó he sang he did sing, chant
er hat gesungen
continuar continuó he continued he did continue
er hat weitergemacht
encontrar encontró he met, encountered he did meet, encounter
er hat getroffen
esquiar esquió he skied he did ski
er ist Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar habló he spoke he did speak
er hat gesprochen
jugar jugó he played he did play
er hat gespielt
pensar pensó he thought he did think
er hat gedacht
preguntar preguntó he asked (questions) he did ask (questions)
er hat gefragt
trabajar trabajó he worked, labored he did work, labor
er hat gearbeitet
The pronoun ÉL needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ELLA & USTED.
Once it is clear that ÉL is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Ella form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and addto the stem.
This is the event. This is what she did.
deutsch
cantar cantó she sang she did sing, chant
sie hat gesungen
continuar continuó she continued she did continue
sie hat weitergemacht
encontrar encontró she met, encountered she did meet, encounter
sie hat getroffen
esquiar esquió she skied she did ski
sie ist Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar habló she spoke she did speak
sie hat gesprochen
jugar jugó she played she did play
sie hat gespielt
pensar pensó she thought she did think
sie hat gedacht
preguntar preguntó she asked (questions) she did ask (questions)
sie hat gefragt
trabajar trabajó she worked, labored she did work, labor
sie hat gearbeitet
The pronoun ELLA needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ÉL & USTED.
Once it is clear that ELLA is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Usted form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and addto the stem.
This is the event. This is what You did.
deutsch
cantar cantó you sang you did sing, chant
Sie haben gesungen
continuar continuó you continued you did continue
Sie haben weitergemacht
encontrar encontró you met, encountered you did meet, encounter
Sie haben getroffen
esquiar esquió you skied you did ski
Sie sind Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar habló you spoke you did speak
Sie haben gesprochen
jugar jugó you played you did play
Sie haben gespielt
pensar pensó you thought you did think
Sie haben gedacht
preguntar preguntó you asked (questions) you did ask (questions)
Sie haben gefragt
trabajar trabajó you worked, labored you did work, labor
Sie haben gearbeitet
The pronoun USTED needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ELLA & ÉL.
Once it is clear that USTED is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Nosotros & Nosotras form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -amos to the stem.
Notice that the NOSOTROS form is exactly the same in the present & preterite tenses.
This is the event. This is what we did.
deutsch
cantar cantamos we sang we did sing, chant
wir haben gesungen
continuar continuamos we continued we did continue
wir haben weitergemacht
encontrar encontramos we met, encountered we did meet, encounter
wir haben getroffen
esquiar esquiamos we skied we did ski
wir sind Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablamos we spoke we did speak
wir haben gesprochen
jugar jugamos we played we did play
wir haben gespielt
pensar pensamos we thought we did think
wir haben gedacht
preguntar preguntamos we asked (questions) we did ask (questions)
wir haben gefragt
trabajar trabajamos we worked, labored we did work, labor
wir haben gearbeitet
The pronoun NOSOTROS does not need to be stated in the preterite.
It is already clear by the ending that NOSOTROS is doing the action.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Vosotros & Vosotras form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -asteis to the stem.
This is the event. This is what y'all did.
deutsch
cantar cantasteis y'all sang y'all did sing, chant
ihr habt gesungen
continuar continuasteis y'all continued y'all did continue
ihr habt weitergemacht
encontrar encontrasteis y'all met, encountered y'all did meet, encounter
ihr habt getroffen
esquiar esquiasteis y'all skied y'all did ski
ihr seid Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablasteis y'all spoke y'all did speak
ihr habt gesprochen
jugar jugasteis y'all played y'all did play
ihr habt gespielt
pensar pensasteis y'all thought y'all did think
ihr habt gedacht
preguntar preguntasteis y'all asked (questions) y'all did ask (questions)
ihr habt gefragt
trabajar trabajasteis y'all worked, labored y'all did work, labor
ihr habt gearbeitet
The pronoun VOSOTROS does not need to be stated in the preterite.
It is already clear by the ending that VOSOTROS is doing the action.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Ellos form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.
This form is important, as it is the basis for the formation of the past subjunctive.
This is the event. This is what they did.
deutsch
cantar cantaron they sang, chanted they did sing, chant
sie haben gesungen
continuar continuaron they continued they did continue
sie haben weitergemacht
encontrar encontraron they met, encountered they did meet, encounter
sie haben getroffen
esquiar esquiaron they skied they did ski
sie sind Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablaron they spoke they did speak
sie haben gesprochen
jugar jugaron they played they did play
sie haben gespielt
pensar pensaron they thought they did think
sie haben gedacht
preguntar preguntaron they asked (questions) they did ask (questions)
sie haben gefragt
trabajar trabajaron they worked, labored they did work, labor
sie haben gearbeitet
The pronoun ELLOS needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ELLAS & USTEDES.
Once it is clear that ELLOS is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Ellas form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.
This form is important, as it is the basis for the formation of the past subjunctive.
This is the event. This is what they did.
deutsch
cantar cantaron they sang, chanted they did sing, chant
sie haben gesungen
continuar continuaron they continued they did continue
sie haben weitergemacht
encontrar encontraron they met, encountered they did meet, encounter
sie haben getroffen
esquiar esquiaron they skied they did ski
sie sind Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablaron they spoke they did speak
sie haben gesprochen
jugar jugaron they played they did play
sie haben gespielt
pensar pensaron they thought they did think
sie haben gedacht
preguntar preguntaron they asked (questions) they did ask (questions)
sie haben gefragt
trabajar trabajaron they worked, labored they did work, labor
sie haben gearbeitet
The pronoun ELLAS needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ELLOS & USTEDES.
Once it is clear that ELLAS is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top
Preterite tense: -AR verb conjugation
Ustedes form
To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.
This form is important, as it is the basis for the formation of the past subjunctive.
This is the event. This is what y'all did.
deutsch
cantar cantaron Y'all sang, chanted Y'all did sing, chant
sie haben gesungen
continuar continuaron Y'all continued Y'all did continue
sie haben weitergemacht
encontrar encontraron Y'all met, encountered Y'all did meet, encounter
sie haben getroffen
esquiar esquiaron Y'all skied Y'all did ski
sie sind Ski gefahren/gelaufen
hablar hablaron Y'all spoke Y'all did speak
sie haben gesprochen
jugar jugaron Y'all played Y'all did play
sie haben gespielt
pensar pensaron Y'all thought Y'all did think
sie haben gedacht
preguntar preguntaron Y'all asked (questions) Y'all did ask (questions)
sie haben gefragt
trabajar trabajaron Y'all worked, labored Y'all did work, labor
sie haben gearbeitet
The pronoun USTEDES needs to be stated in the preterite, because the same form is used for ELLOS & ELLAS.
Once it is clear that USTEDES is the subject, it can be left out in further statements.
The preterite tense reflects an action as a reported event.
It provides importance to the fact that it happened.
A look at other forms:
YO
ÉL
ELLA
USTED
NOSOTROS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS
ELLAS
USTEDES
More information concerning the preterite tense
Back to Top