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-AR Preterite

Avancemos 2 1.2

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Verbs, Conjugations, Tenses

You’ve already learned that we conjugate verbs according to a specific pattern. This tells us who does each action.

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Did you know that verbs happen in time?

Actions happen in the past, present and future. We call these verb tenses. In Spanish, the “preterite tense” tells us about the past.

Past

Present

Future

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To talk about the past using the preterite tense

To talk about the past using the preterite tense, you have a new set of endings. As soon as you apply these endings to your verbs, everyone understands the action is over and completed.

Yo tomo fotos hoy. Yo tomé fotos ayer.

I take pictures today. I took pictures yesterday.

I do take pictures today.

I am taking pictures today.

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To Summarize…

  • The preterite is about the past: a completed action at a specific point in time.
  • The preterite will not have the same conjugation as the present.

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How to conjugate an -AR verb in the preterite tense

1. Drop the -AR from the infinitive.

2. Add the correct endings.

-é -amos

-aste -asteis

-ó -aron

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Tomar fotos (took photos)

yo

tú

usted

él

ella

nosotros

vosotros

ustedes

ellos

ellas

tomé

tomaste

tomó

tomó

tomó

tomamos

tomasteis

tomaron

tomaron

tomaron

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Fill in the blank with the correct preterite form of the verb.

  • Yo ______________ el museo de arte. (visitar)
  • Mi padre _________________ en el lago. (pescar)
  • Ellos ___________________ tarjetas postales. (mandar)
  • Mi madre y yo __________________ unas artesanías. (comprar)

visité

pescó

mandaron

compramos

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Conjugate the following verbs in your notes.

  • viajar (traveled)
  • nadar (swam)
  • montar (rode)

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A few irregulars

The verbs pescar and sacar don’t work well with the preterite ‘yo’ ending. They have to change spelling to keep the “kuh” sound. This is only the ‘yo’ form that is affected!

yo pesqué

(pescaste, pescó, pescamos, pescasteis, pescaron)

yo saqué

(sacaste, sacó, sacamos, sacasteis, sacaron)

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Create a sentence for each picture using the preterite.

1. nosotros 2. las turistas 3. yo

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Helpful Words

ayer

anteayer

el año pasado

el lunes pasado

el mes pasado

la semana pasada

yesterday

day before yesterday

last year

last Monday

last month

last week