This page is a single-stop reference for the Spanish preterite (the pretérito indefinido). Use it to look up endings, irregular families, spelling shifts, and the most common irregular verbs — and to refresh the core usage rules at the end. Every paradigm includes the peninsular vosotros form. Each section is short by design; for deeper explanations of individual families, follow the links at the bottom of each section.
Regular endings
There are two endings sets in the preterite: one for -ar verbs, one shared between -er and -ir verbs.
Regular -ar verbs
| Subject | Ending | hablar → | trabajar → |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | hablé | trabajé |
| tú | -aste | hablaste | trabajaste |
| él / ella / usted | -ó | habló | trabajó |
| nosotros | -amos | hablamos | trabajamos |
| vosotros | -asteis | hablasteis | trabajasteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aron | hablaron | trabajaron |
The yo and él forms carry obligatory written accents. Without them, the words mean something else: hablo (present), hable (subjunctive), hablé (preterite). The nosotros form is identical to the present (hablamos = we speak / we spoke); context disambiguates.
Ayer trabajé doce horas y acabé agotado.
Yesterday I worked twelve hours and ended up exhausted.
See verbs/preterite/regular-ar for the deep dive.
Regular -er / -ir verbs
| Subject | Ending | comer → | vivir → |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -í | comí | viví |
| tú | -iste | comiste | viviste |
| él / ella / usted | -ió | comió | vivió |
| nosotros | -imos | comimos | vivimos |
| vosotros | -isteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ieron | comieron | vivieron |
The -er and -ir preterite is identical. Same obligatory accents on yo (-í) and él (-ió). The -ir nosotros form (vivimos) is identical to the present tense; comimos differs from the present (comemos).
Vivimos cinco años en Salamanca antes de mudarnos a Madrid.
We lived in Salamanca for five years before moving to Madrid.
See verbs/preterite/regular-er-ir.
Spelling changes in regular verbs
Some regular verbs need a spelling tweak to preserve the sound of the stem.
-car, -gar, -zar verbs: yo form spelling change
Verbs ending in -car, -gar, -zar change the final consonant in the yo form only, to keep the sound of the stem before the -é ending.
| Ending | Change | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -car | c → qu | buscar → busqué |
| -gar | g → gu | llegar → llegué |
| -zar | z → c | empezar → empecé |
All other forms are regular: buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron.
Llegué tarde porque busqué aparcamiento durante media hora.
I arrived late because I spent half an hour looking for parking.
See verbs/preterite/spelling-car-gar-zar.
Vowel-stem -er / -ir verbs: i → y in 3rd person
When a regular -er or -ir verb has a stem ending in a vowel (creer, leer, oír, caer, construir, huir), the i of the third-person endings -ió and -ieron turns into y, because Spanish doesn't allow an unstressed i between vowels.
| Verb | yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| leer | leí | leíste | leyó | leímos | leísteis | leyeron |
| oír | oí | oíste | oyó | oímos | oísteis | oyeron |
| construir | construí | construiste | construyó | construimos | construisteis | construyeron |
Note the accents on -í- in the non-third-person forms of leer, oír, caer: leíste, oímos, caísteis. These are not optional. Construir doesn't carry these accents because the u is a consonant in this position.
Leí el libro en dos días y se lo presté a Marta.
I read the book in two days and lent it to Marta.
See verbs/preterite/spelling-other.
Stem-changing -ir verbs: e → i, o → u in 3rd person
-Ir verbs that change the stem in the present (pedir, servir, dormir, morir) also change the stem in the third-person preterite forms — and only there.
| Verb | yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pedir | pedí | pediste | pidió | pedimos | pedisteis | pidieron |
| servir | serví | serviste | sirvió | servimos | servisteis | sirvieron |
| dormir | dormí | dormiste | durmió | dormimos | dormisteis | durmieron |
| morir | morí | moriste | murió | morimos | moristeis | murieron |
-Ar and -er stem-changers (like pensar, volver) do not change the stem in the preterite. They're fully regular.
Pedí un café con leche y me sirvieron uno con hielo. No protesté.
I ordered a coffee with milk and they served me one with ice. I didn't complain.
See verbs/preterite/stem-change-e-i.
Irregular families
A group of common verbs share a special irregular preterite pattern: a modified stem plus a distinct set of endings that do not carry accents on yo or él. The endings are -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron (or -eron for j-stems).
u-stem irregulars
| Verb | Stem | yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| estar | estuv- | estuve | estuviste | estuvo | estuvimos | estuvisteis | estuvieron |
| tener | tuv- | tuve | tuviste | tuvo | tuvimos | tuvisteis | tuvieron |
| poder | pud- | pude | pudiste | pudo | pudimos | pudisteis | pudieron |
| poner | pus- | puse | pusiste | puso | pusimos | pusisteis | pusieron |
| saber | sup- | supe | supiste | supo | supimos | supisteis | supieron |
| haber | hub- | hube | hubiste | hubo | hubimos | hubisteis | hubieron |
| caber | cup- | cupe | cupiste | cupo | cupimos | cupisteis | cupieron |
| andar | anduv- | anduve | anduviste | anduvo | anduvimos | anduvisteis | anduvieron |
Estuvimos dos semanas en Asturias y nos lo pasamos genial.
We spent two weeks in Asturias and had a great time.
i-stem irregulars
| Verb | Stem | yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hacer | hic- / hiz- | hice | hiciste | hizo | hicimos | hicisteis | hicieron |
| querer | quis- | quise | quisiste | quiso | quisimos | quisisteis | quisieron |
| venir | vin- | vine | viniste | vino | vinimos | vinisteis | vinieron |
Note the spelling change in hacer: hizo, not hico, to preserve the sound. The c changes to z before o.
¿Qué hicisteis el sábado? — No hicimos nada, nos quedamos en casa.
What did you guys do on Saturday? — We didn't do anything, we stayed home.
j-stem irregulars
When the stem ends in j, the third-person plural ending drops its i: -eron instead of -ieron.
| Verb | Stem | yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decir | dij- | dije | dijiste | dijo | dijimos | dijisteis | dijeron |
| traer | traj- | traje | trajiste | trajo | trajimos | trajisteis | trajeron |
| conducir | conduj- | conduje | condujiste | condujo | condujimos | condujisteis | condujeron |
| traducir | traduj- | traduje | tradujiste | tradujo | tradujimos | tradujisteis | tradujeron |
Most -ducir verbs (producir, reducir, introducir, traducir, conducir) follow this pattern: produje, produjeron; reduje, redujeron.
Me dijeron la verdad y se lo agradecí.
They told me the truth and I thanked them for it.
ser and ir: identical forms
The verbs ser and ir have the same preterite forms. Context disambiguates.
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él / ella / usted | fue |
| nosotros | fuimos |
| vosotros | fuisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | fueron |
No accent marks at all on any form — these are stress-irregular and the orthography reflects it. Fui and fue used to carry accents (fuí, fué) but the Real Academia removed them decades ago. Modern Spanish never accents these forms.
Ayer fui al cine — fue una peli increíble.
Yesterday I went to the cinema — it was an incredible film.
In that sentence, fui = went (ir) and fue = was (ser). Same form, two verbs.
dar and ver: -er endings on -ar verb dar
Dar and ver are oddballs: they take -er/-ir preterite endings without accents.
| Subject | dar | ver |
|---|---|---|
| yo | di | vi |
| tú | diste | viste |
| él / ella / usted | dio | vio |
| nosotros | dimos | vimos |
| vosotros | disteis | visteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | dieron | vieron |
The forms di / dio and vi / vio used to be written with accents (dí, dió, ví, vió) but the Real Academia removed them. Modern peninsular Spanish writes them without accents.
Le di las llaves a mi hermano y se las dejó en el coche.
I gave the keys to my brother and he left them in the car.
hacer + time expressions
Hace + duration is an idiom built on the third-person hace (technically a present-tense form, not a preterite). It means X ago. The main verb in the clause is in the preterite.
Hace tres años cambié de carrera.
Three years ago I changed careers.
Hace cinco minutos sonó el timbre.
The doorbell rang five minutes ago.
See verbs/preterite/hacer-time.
High-frequency irregular verbs at a glance
The fourteen verbs you should be able to conjugate cold:
| Verb | Family | yo | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ser | ser/ir | fui | fuisteis | fueron |
| ir | ser/ir | fui | fuisteis | fueron |
| estar | u-stem | estuve | estuvisteis | estuvieron |
| tener | u-stem | tuve | tuvisteis | tuvieron |
| poder | u-stem | pude | pudisteis | pudieron |
| poner | u-stem | puse | pusisteis | pusieron |
| saber | u-stem | supe | supisteis | supieron |
| haber | u-stem | hube | hubisteis | hubieron |
| hacer | i-stem | hice | hicisteis | hicieron |
| querer | i-stem | quise | quisisteis | quisieron |
| venir | i-stem | vine | vinisteis | vinieron |
| decir | j-stem | dije | dijisteis | dijeron |
| traer | j-stem | traje | trajisteis | trajeron |
| dar | dar/ver | di | disteis | dieron |
| ver | dar/ver | vi | visteis | vieron |
No pude venir a la cena porque tuve un problema con el coche.
I couldn't come to dinner because I had a problem with the car.
Vinieron a verme la semana pasada y nos lo pasamos genial.
They came to see me last week and we had a great time.
Usage summary card
When to reach for the preterite:
- Completed, bounded past actions. Ayer comí paella. See usage-completed.
- Time markers that signal a closed past frame. Ayer, anoche, la semana pasada, en 2010, hace dos años, durante tres horas. See usage-time-expressions.
- Narrative sequence. Each preterite advances the plot one step. Llegué, abrí, vi, me senté. See usage-sequences.
- Meaning-change verbs marking a moment of change. Supe (found out), conocí (met), quise (tried), pude (managed), tuve (got), hubo que (had to). See meaning-change.
When not to reach for the preterite:
- Today's events in peninsular Spanish — use the present perfect (hoy he comido). See choosing/preterite-vs-present-perfect.
- Habitual, ongoing past actions — use the imperfect (iba al colegio en autobús). See verbs/imperfect/usage-habitual.
- Background description in a past scene — use the imperfect (la casa estaba oscura). See verbs/preterite-vs-imperfect/overview.
Common Mistakes
❌ Yo hablo con Marta ayer.
Incorrect — the yo preterite needs the accent: hablé
✅ Yo hablé con Marta ayer.
I spoke with Marta yesterday.
Dropping the accent on -é turns the preterite into the present. The accent is grammatical, not decorative.
❌ Ellos dijieron la verdad.
Incorrect — j-stem verbs drop the i in the third-person plural
✅ Ellos dijeron la verdad.
They told the truth.
Decir, traer, conducir and their family take -eron, not -ieron, in the third-person plural.
❌ Vosotros hablastes anoche con Pablo.
Incorrect — the vosotros preterite ending is -asteis, not -astes
✅ Vosotros hablasteis anoche con Pablo.
You guys spoke with Pablo last night.
A common slip among Spaniards in casual speech (and a hypercorrection learners pick up) is to drop the i. The standard form is -asteis / -isteis.
❌ Yo llegue tarde — busque aparcamiento media hora.
Incorrect — both yo-forms are missing the accent: llegué (with -gu- before é) and busqué (with -qu- before é).
✅ Yo llegué tarde — busqué aparcamiento media hora.
I arrived late — I looked for parking for half an hour.
The -car / -gar / -zar spelling change is mandatory in the yo form; without it the consonant would sound different before -é.
❌ Hoy fui al gimnasio por la mañana.
Incorrect for Spain — today's events take the present perfect
✅ Hoy he ido al gimnasio por la mañana.
I went to the gym this morning.
The hodiernal rule overrides everything: as long as the time frame is still open, peninsular Spanish wants the present perfect.
Key takeaways
- Two regular ending sets: -ar (-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron) and -er/-ir (-í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron).
- Obligatory accents on yo and él for regular verbs — never on the irregular families.
- Spelling changes: -car/-gar/-zar in yo; i → y in third person for vowel-stems; e → i / o → u in third person for -ir stem-changers.
- Irregular families: u-stem, i-stem, j-stem; plus the unique pairs ser/ir (identical) and dar/ver (no accents).
- The peninsular vosotros form is mandatory in everyday speech in Spain: -asteis / -isteis.
- Use the preterite for closed past frames; switch to the present perfect for events within today's still-open frame.
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Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Pretérito indefinido: verbos regulares en -arA2 — The regular -ar preterite — endings -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron — with obligatory accents, the peninsular vosotros form, and the today/not-today rule that governs when to use it in Spain.
- Pretérito: verbos regulares en -er e -irA2 — Regular -er and -ir verbs share one identical set of preterite endings: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron — with peninsular -isteis as the longest vosotros form in the system.
- Pretérito con raíz en -u-: estar, tener, poder, poner, saberB1 — The strong-preterite family whose stem warps to -u-: estuve, tuve, pude, puse, supe — sharing one set of unaccented endings and producing several of the highest-frequency verbs in spoken Spanish.
- Pretérito para acciones terminadasA2 — The core use of the preterite — completed, bounded past actions — with the time markers that trigger it, the contrast with the imperfect, and the peninsular twist that today's events take the present perfect instead.
- Verbos que cambian de sentido en pretéritoB1 — The handful of Spanish verbs — saber, conocer, querer, poder, tener, haber que — whose preterite carries a sharply different meaning from their imperfect, and how to use the difference to encode finding out, meeting, trying, succeeding, and receiving.
- Cómo elegir entre pretérito y pretérito perfectoA2 — Peninsular Spanish's defining past-tense choice. He comido for actions inside the current time frame (hoy, esta semana, este año, en mi vida); comí for actions outside it (ayer, la semana pasada, hace dos años). Time markers do most of the work. Plus the peninsular vs Latin American contrast and the northern Spain counter-trap.