Talking about yesterday: the preterite
Ayer me levanté tarde. One tense turns your routine into a story, and the endings are more regular than they first look.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past and future as appropriate to the language being studied
Key learning points
- • The two ending patterns
- • Accents matter
- • The irregulars you cannot avoid
- • Anchoring the tense
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 19 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 19
Watch first
Talking about yesterday: the preterite
An English teaching video on this topic from Lingo Mastery Spanish. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past and future as appropriate to the language being studied
What you already know
Part 2 of 19
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know present-tense routines and reflexive pronouns.
Key words
Part 3 of 19
Key words
Words you'll need today
- el pretérito
- the preterite — completed past actions
- ayer
- yesterday
- el fin de semana pasado
- last weekend
- fui
- I went / I was (ir and ser)
- hice
- I did / I made (hacer)
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 19
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Regular preterite endings
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 19
Learn
The two ending patterns
-ar verbs take -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. -er and -ir verbs share -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Learn the yo and él forms first: those carry most of what you say.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 19
Learn
Accents matter
Hablo means I speak; habló means he spoke. The accent is not decoration — it moves the stress and changes the person. Write them, and say them with the stress you have written.
Quick check
Part 7 of 19
Quick check
'I ate' (comer) is...
Quick check
Part 8 of 19
Quick check
'habló' means...
Reset break
Part 9 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 10 of 19
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Irregulars and time markers
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 19
Learn
The irregulars you cannot avoid
Fui (I went or I was), hice (I did), tuve (I had) and estuve (I was, temporarily) appear in almost every past account. They take no accents in the yo form, which is a useful signal that they are irregular.
Explore the idea
Part 12 of 19
Learn
Anchoring the tense
Open with a marker: ayer, el sábado pasado, hace dos semanas. Then combine tenses for range: normalmente juego al fútbol, pero ayer fui al cine y lo pasé genial.
Quick check
Part 13 of 19
Quick check
'Ayer fui al cine' means...
Quick check
Part 14 of 19
Quick check
Reflexive past of levantarse (yo) is...
Common mix-ups
Part 15 of 19
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Fui covers both 'I went' and 'I was' — context decides.
- Reflexive pronouns stay in the past: me levanté, not levanté me.
- Missing accents change the person, so they cost marks.
Challenge round
Part 16 of 19
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 17 of 19
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Then combine ____ for range: normalmente juego al fútbol, pero ayer fui al cine y lo pasé genial.
Mastery quiz
Part 18 of 19
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Talking about yesterday: the preterite
6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. -ar yo ending in the preterite is...
2. 'hice' comes from...
3. Which is a past time marker?
4. 'comieron' means...
5. Mixing present and preterite shows...
6. 'tuve' means...
Lesson round-up
Part 19 of 19
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
Une journée à Lyon
Samedi matin, je me lève à sept heures et demie. Je prends le petit déjeuner avec ma sœur — du pain, du beurre et un chocolat chaud. Ensuite, nous prenons le bus jusqu'au centre-ville.
J'aime beaucoup Lyon parce qu'il y a un grand marché près du fleuve. Ma sœur préfère les magasins, mais moi, je préfère le marché : c'est moins cher et c'est plus intéressant. À midi, nous mangeons un sandwich au parc.
L'après-midi, il commence à pleuvoir, alors nous rentrons à la maison en tram. Le soir, je fais mes devoirs et je regarde un film avec mes parents.
Original text written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- In English, say what the writer does in the morning, at midday and in the evening.
- Find the phrases that give an opinion and a reason, and copy them out.
- Write 8–10 sentences about your own Saturday, using at least three phrases from the text.
Written practice
WritingWrite the sentences out in the language, then translate them back into English.
8–10 sentences
Vocabulary page
Working outCopy the new words, cover them, and test yourself. Note the ones you keep missing.
15 words
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover