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Spanish (Spain)

### The preterite of -er and -ir verbs

To talk about completed past events, such as life milestones from last year, you will use the preterite tense. You already learned how to form this tense for **-ar** verbs. 

For regular **-er** and **-ir** verbs, forming the preterite is even easier because both verb groups share the exact same set of endings. Drop the **-er** or **-ir** from the infinitive and add these endings:

| Subject | Ending | Example: *crecer* (to grow) | Example: *decidir* (to decide) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **yo** | -í | crecí | decidí |
| **tú** | -iste | creciste | decidiste |
| **él/ella/usted** | -ió | creció | decidió |
| **nosotros/nosotras** | -imos | crecimos | decidimos |
| **vosotros/vosotras** | -isteis | crecisteis | decidisteis |
| **ellos/ellas/ustedes** | -ieron | crecieron | decidieron |

### The *yo* and *él/ella/usted* forms

Just like with **-ar** verbs, the **yo** and **él/ella/usted** forms carry a mandatory written accent on the final letter. The **yo** ending is **-í**, and the **él/ella/usted** ending is **-ió**. These accents indicate that the action is in the past and shift the vocal stress to the final syllable.

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### The *nosotros* form and past context

The **nosotros/nosotras** ending is **-imos**. For **-er** verbs, this is different from the present tense (e.g., *crecimos* vs. *crecemos*). However, for **-ir** verbs, the present and preterite forms are identical (*decidimos* can mean "we decide" or "we decided"). You will rely on time markers like **el año pasado** (last year) or **ayer** (yesterday) to know if the action happened in the past.

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### Using the other forms

For the remaining subjects, simply apply the **-iste**, **-isteis**, and **-ieron** endings. Notice that none of these forms require an accent mark. 

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The preterite tense of -er and -ir verbs (-í, -ió)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
to be born	nacer
to grow	crecer
I was born in Spain, but I grew up in France.	Nací en España, pero crecí en Francia.
In what year was your grandfather born?	¿En qué año nació tu abuelo?
We grew up in a very pretty village.	Crecimos en un pueblo muy bonito.
past	pasado
My niece grew a lot last year.	Mi sobrina creció mucho el año pasado.
to decide	decidir
Last year, they decided to travel to Spain.	El año pasado, ellas decidieron viajar a España.
Yesterday I decided to sell my car.	Ayer decidí vender mi coche.
to discover	descubrir
Yesterday, he discovered a very cheap restaurant in the center.	Ayer él descubrió un restaurante muy barato en el centro.
We discovered the secret to living without fear.	Descubrimos el secreto para vivir sin miedo.
to promise	prometer
You promised to visit grandmother in the hospital.	Prometisteis visitar a la abuela en el hospital.
She promised a lot of money to the boss.	Ella le prometió mucho dinero al jefe.
to respond	responder
Why didn't you respond to my message yesterday?	¿Por qué no respondiste a mi mensaje ayer?
Answer the question! Yesterday you didn't answer.	¡Responde a la pregunta! Ayer no respondiste.
the prize	el premio
My brother received a special prize at the university.	Mi hermano recibió un premio especial en la universidad.
You promised to give the award to the best actress.	Prometiste entregar el premio a la mejor actriz.
the degree	la carrera
Last year, my boyfriend decided to do a degree.	El año pasado, mi novio decidió estudiar una carrera.
We decided to start a degree at the university.	Decidimos empezar una carrera en la universidad.
the business	el negocio
Last year I opened a business with my father.	El año pasado abrí un negocio con mi padre.
Your aunt's new business grew very fast.	El nuevo negocio de tu tía creció muy rápido.
Last month, I met a very nice doctor.	El mes pasado, conocí a un médico muy simpático.

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