El pretérito: talking about the past
The preterite describes completed past actions. It is the single biggest step up from Year 7 Spanish.
Part of your national curriculum
- Grammar and vocabulary: Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past and future as appropriate to the language being studied
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
- • Regular endings
- • Key irregulars
- • Time markers
This lesson at a glance
- 24 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
Visual introductionPicture this
El pretérito: talking about the past
The preterite describes completed past actions. It is the single biggest step up from Year 7 Spanish.
In a nutshell
Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past and future as appropriate to the language being studied
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 19
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Regular endings
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 19
Learn
Regular endings
-ar verbs: hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron. -er and -ir verbs share endings: comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron. The accents on the first and third person singular are not decoration — hablo (I speak) and habló (he spoke) differ only by that mark.
Reset break
Part 4 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 5 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.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 19
Learn
Key irregulars
ir and ser share the same preterite: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Context decides which. hacer: hice, hiciste, hizo. tener: tuve, tuviste, tuvo. estar: estuve, estuviste, estuvo.
Quick check
Part 6 of 19
Quick check
Part 7 of 19
Reset break
Part 8 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 5 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 9 of 19
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Time markers
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 19
Learn
Time markers
el año pasado, la semana pasada, ayer, hace dos años, en agosto. Starting a sentence with one of these signals the tense before the verb arrives, which helps a reader and helps you.
Quick check
Part 11 of 19
Reset break
Part 12 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 5 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.
Quick check
Part 13 of 19
Explore the idea
Part 14 of 19
Worked example
Worked example: converting present to past
'Voy a España, visito a mi abuela y comemos paella.' → 'El verano pasado fui a España, visité a mi abuela y comimos paella.' Note fui (ir), visité (regular -ar with an accent), and comimos, which is identical in present and preterite for -ir/-er verbs — the time marker does the disambiguating.
Challenge round
Part 15 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
Reset break
Part 16 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 5 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.
Challenge round
Part 17 of 19
Game · Recall cards
Which sentence is in the past?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 18 of 19
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: El pretérito: talking about the past
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Which sentence is in the past?
2. The past participle of 'faire' is...
3. How do you say 'I am going to play' in French?
4. What is the past participle of the regular -er verb 'jouer'?
Lesson round-up
Part 19 of 19
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaPart 1 of 19 · Watch & discover
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Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past and future as appropriate to the language being studied