The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the main past tense for completed actions in Spanish. It is the tense you use to say I spoke, she called, we arrived. Regular -ar verbs take a tidy set of endings that you can apply to thousands of verbs.
The Endings
To conjugate a regular -ar verb in the preterite, drop the -ar ending of the infinitive and add the preterite endings.
| Subject | Ending | hablar → |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | hablé |
| tú | -aste | hablaste |
| él / ella / usted | -ó | habló |
| nosotros / nosotras | -amos | hablamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aron | hablaron |
About Those Accents
Two forms carry a written accent: the yo form (-é) and the él/ella/usted form (-ó). The accent is not decorative — it is essential. Without it, hable would be a present subjunctive form, and hablo would be the present indicative I speak. The accent tells the reader and the pronouncer that the stress lands on the final vowel and that the tense is the past.
Ayer hablé con mi abuela.
Yesterday I spoke with my grandmother.
Ella cantó en el concierto.
She sang at the concert.
A Curious Coincidence
The nosotros form hablamos looks identical to the present tense hablamos. Context, not spelling, tells you which one is meant.
Hoy hablamos con Juan.
Today we are speaking with Juan. (present)
Ayer hablamos con Juan.
Yesterday we spoke with Juan. (preterite)
A clear time marker (hoy, ayer, anoche, esta semana) almost always resolves the ambiguity.
More Regular Examples
Any regular -ar verb follows the exact same pattern. Here are a few common ones you will use all the time.
| Subject | cantar | trabajar | estudiar |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | canté | trabajé | estudié |
| tú | cantaste | trabajaste | estudiaste |
| él / ella / usted | cantó | trabajó | estudió |
| nosotros / nosotras | cantamos | trabajamos | estudiamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cantaron | trabajaron | estudiaron |
Estudié toda la noche para el examen.
I studied all night for the exam.
Trabajamos diez horas ayer.
We worked ten hours yesterday.
Common -ar Verbs
Here is a short list of very common -ar verbs that follow this regular pattern:
- hablar — to speak
- cantar — to sing
- bailar — to dance
- caminar — to walk
- comprar — to buy
- estudiar — to study
- trabajar — to work
- visitar — to visit
- llamar — to call
- terminar — to finish
Compré pan en la panadería.
I bought bread at the bakery.
Common mistakes
❌ Ayer yo hablo con mi abuela.
Wrong: using the present tense for a past event.
✅ Ayer yo hablé con mi abuela.
Correct: hablé with the accent marks the preterite.
❌ Ella canto en el concierto.
Wrong: missing the accent changes the meaning to present tense 'I sing'.
✅ Ella cantó en el concierto.
Correct: cantó with the accent marks the third-person preterite.
❌ Yo trabajé, tú trabajé, ella trabajé.
Wrong: using the yo ending for all persons.
✅ Yo trabajé, tú trabajaste, ella trabajó.
Correct: each person has its own ending.
❌ Nosotros hablamos ayer. (confused about tense)
Not wrong, but ambiguous — add a time marker to clarify.
✅ Ayer hablamos con Juan.
Correct: the time marker ayer makes the preterite meaning clear.
Once you know these five endings, you can put any regular -ar verb into the past tense. For -er and -ir verbs, continue with Regular -er and -ir Verbs.
Related Topics
- Regular -er and -ir VerbsA2 — Regular -er and -ir verbs share one set of preterite endings: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron.
- Spelling: -car, -gar, -zarA2 — Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar change spelling in the yo form of the preterite to preserve their sound.
- Regular -ar VerbsA1 — How to conjugate regular verbs ending in -ar in the present indicative.