Speaking about the past in Spanish

One common area of confusion for Spanish learners is which past tense to use in which situation. Spanish uses five different tenses to speak about the past, although the majority of the time it is only necessary to use one of the two most common: the preterite (aka past simple) and the past imperfect. It is however worthwhile knowing how and when to use the past progressive, present perfect and past perfect as well.

The Preterite (Past Simple) Tense

The preterite (past simple) tense is usually the first past tense learned by new Spanish speakers. Its primary use is to relate events or actions that happened once or during a specific time period, and were completed, in the past. For example:

Ayer comí dos tacos de chorizo. - I ate two chorizo tacos yesterday.

The preterite tense is formed by adding the appropriate conjugated ending to the verb stem.

While the conjugations for the majority of verbs follow the rules from the table above, there are a large number of irregular verbs in the preterite tense, many of which are commonly used. It is important to identify and remember these and learn their respective conjugations.

Some common irregular verbs are:

Ser (to be) and Ir (to go) (more about these two verbs later)

Verbs ending with -ucir (e.g. deducir)

Verbs which have stem changes when conjugated such as:

Tener (to have), e.g. tú tuviste

Poder (to be able), e.g. tú pudiste

Dormir (to sleep), e.g. tú durmiste

Traer (to bring), e.g. tú trajiste

Decir (to say), e.g. tú dijiste

The verbs ser and ir

Ser (to be) and Ir (to go) have the same conjugation as each other in the preterite tense, and you will need to use the context of the sentence to tell which verb is being conjugated.

Yo fui (I was OR I went)

Tú fuiste (You were OR You went)

Él/ella fue (He/she/it were OR He/she/it went)

Usted fue (You - formal - were OR you - formal - went)

Ellos/ellas/ustedes fueron (they/you plural were OR They/you pl. went)

Nosotros fuimos (We were OR We went)

See if you can spot the irregulars in some of the examples below.

There are five main uses of the preterite tense:

1: Events that occurred on one occasion, beginning and ending at specific moments in the past. For example:

Salí de la casa antes del amanecer.

I left the house before dawn.

2: When talking about things which took place during a specified time frame but are not happening any more.

For example:

El equipo jugó bien durante la temporada regular.

- The team played well during the regular season.

Terminé mi tarea en solo una hora.

- I finished my homework in only one hour.

3: When listing events that occurred one after the other.

For example:

Vine, miré, conquisté.

- I came, I saw, I conquered.

Horneé un pastel, hice el glaseado y serví un poco de té.

- I baked a cake, made the icing and poured some tea.

4: When describing an event or action that occurred a specified number of times within a specified time frame.

For example:

Fui a nadar al mar cinco veces el año pasado.

-I went swimming in the sea five times last year.

Limpié mi casa tres veces el sábado.

-I cleaned my house three times on Saturday.

5: Used in conjunction with the imperfect to describe changes to ongoing situations or statuses that occurred at a specific point in the past.

For example,

Estaba en contra de leer por placer hasta que descubrí la poesía.

-I was against reading for pleasure until I discovered poetry.

Estaba en contra del matrimonio hasta que me enamoré.

-I was against marriage until I fell in love.

The Past Imperfect

The past imperfect tense is used in a number of situations and is often translated as ‘used to’ , although this translation only really covers one of its uses. While it can be complicated to know when to use the imperfect, it is one of the easier tenses to conjugate with just three verbs being irregular. The regular verbs conjugations are:

The irregular verbs are Ser (to be), Ir (to go) and Ver (to see). They are conjugated:

There are six main uses of the past imperfect tense:

1: To talk about habits or things that used to happen repeatedly in the past.

For example:

Solía jugar videojuegos con mis amigos toda la noche.

I used to play video games with my friends all night.

Bailaba con mi novio los fines de semana.

I used to dance with my boyfriend on weekends.

2: When describing or assigning qualities to objects, people, places or situations in the past.

For example:

Mi licuado estaba más sabroso que los demás.

My smoothie was tastier than the other ones.

Era muy guapo cuando sonreía.

He was very handsome when he smiled.

3: Actions or events from the past that were not completed.

For example:

Yo leía revistas.

I read magazines.

Él trataba de engañar a sus padres.

He tried to deceive his parents.

4: To talk about actions or events which were occurring immediately prior to other things happening. The second action or event will usually use the preterite.

For example:

Comíamos cuando llegó el payaso.

We were eating when the clown arrived.

Cuando se supo la noticia estábamos fuera de la ciudad.

When the news broke we were out of town.

5: When telling the time in the past or talking about specific times of day in the past prior to a specific event.

For example:

Eran las dos de la tarde cuando explotó.

It was two in the afternoon when it exploded.

Era muy temprano en la mañana cuando finalmente vimos tierra.

It was very early in the morning when we finally saw land.

6: When describing someone's age at a point in the past.

For example:

Tenía doce años cuando volé por primera vez.

I was twelve when I flew for the first time.

Todo esto sucedió cuando él tenía más de sesenta años.

All of this happened when he was more than sixty years old.

The Past Progressive

The past progressive is used to talk about things that were being done or were happening in the past at the time you are talking about. For example ‘I was running’ (Estaba corriendo) or It was raining’ (Estaba lloviendo). It can only be used if the action or event has been completed. It is often interchangeable with the imperfect, and is in fact formed by using the imperfect form of the verb estar and the gerund of the primary verb of the action.

The gerund is made up of the stem of the verb plus -ando for verbs ending in ar, or -iendo for verbs ending in ir or er. As is often the case with Spanish, there are several irregular gerunds, and it is always worth checking to see if the gerund is formed in the regular way when learning a new verb.

Some examples of the past progressive include:

Yo estaba durmiendo.

I was sleeping.

Estabas cantando hermosamente.

You were singing beautifully.

Ella estaba escribiendo su libro.

She was writing her book.

Estábamos comiendo palomitas durante la película.

We were eating popcorn during the movie.

Estaban peleando enfrente de su casa.

They were fighting in front of their house.

The Present Perfect

The present perfect tense is used to talk about things that have happened recently or have been accomplished in the past in a way that influences or is linked to the present. It can also be used to talk about things that have been done or happened a set number of times in the past, although this usage is rare in Latin American Spanish. It is a compound tense formed of the present conjugation of the verb haber and the past participle of the primary verb.

The past participle is formed by adding -ado to the stems of verbs ending with ar, -ido to those ending in ir or er.

In the case of irregular verbs, most past participles don’t follow rules and need to be memorized. Some of the most common irregular past participle verbs are:

Decir ⇉ dicho

Escribir ⇉ escrito

Ver ⇉ visto

Poner ⇉ puesto

Examples of the ways this tense can be used include:

He visto esa película.

I have seen that film.

Ha viajado a Tailandia.

He has traveled in Thailand.

Has leído el libro.

You have read the book.

Hemos vivido aquí por años.

We have lived here for years.

Lo han hecho miles de veces.

They have done it thousands of times.

To read more about how to use compound tenses visit our recent article on the subject.

The Past Perfect

Another compound tense, the past perfect uses the imperfect past conjugation of the auxiliary verb haber and the past participle of a verb to describe things that have been done or happened before another thing.

For example:

Había leído el señor de los anillos cuando comencé la escuela secundaria.

I had read Lord of the Rings when I started high school.

Ella había comido cuando la sorprendí con una pizza.

She had eaten when I surprised her with a pizza.

Nos habíamos ido antes del accidente.

We had left before the accident.

Conclusion

While there may seem to be a lot of rules when speaking about the past in Spanish, the various tenses allow for precision and for the order of events to be recounted clearly. The more accustomed you become to speaking Spanish the more natural choosing the correct tense will become, many native speakers know the right tense instinctively and may not even be able to explain why they are using them. If you stick to using the imperfect and the preterite tense you will be on the right track the vast majority of the time.

It is worth noting the tenses discussed in this article are all used in the indicative mood, and the subjunctive mood has its own conjugations. To learn how the subjunctive mood and both how and when to use it, check out our detailed guide.

Is there another Spanish language topic that you are struggling with or would like to read an article about? Let us know at communications@naatikmexico.org. You can find our other Spanish language blogs here.

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