QUESTION?
C
HAPTER
11
In the Past
AT THIS POINT, you’ve reviewed many types of verb and verbal constructions in the context of the present tense. The next few chapters will review other tenses—the past, future, conditional, and compound tenses—as well as subjunctive and command moods.
Let’s begin with the past tense. In Spanish, there are a few ways to express actions occurring in past tense. In addition to the compound past tenses (covered in Chapter 14), Spanish past tenses include preterite, imperfect, and past progressives.
What You Did—the Preterite
The preterite tense, el pretérito
, is used to describe actions that occurred and were completed in the past:
Ernesto llegó al restaurante a las cinco.
Ernesto arrived at the restaurant at five.
Ya acabó la película.
The movie ended already.
Conocí a Eliana en una de las fiestas de Javier.
I met Eliana at one of Javier’s parties.
For each of these sentences, the action is definite and refers to an event that happened at a particular time, not one that took place regularly. To distinguish preterite tense from other past tenses in Spanish, you might want to think of it as the concrete past, used to describe particular events and actions. (More on the differences between the preterite and the imperfect past is to follow later in the chapter.)
Preterite Endings
To conjugate verbs in the preterite, drop the infinitive ending and add the appropriate preterite ending. Note that –ER and –IR verbs share identical endings:
| –AR Verbs | –ER and –IR Verbs | ||
| é amos | í imos | ||
| aste asteis | iste isteis | ||
| ó aron | ió ieron |
Irregular Forms
The preterite conjugations have quite a few irregularities, but not as many as the present indicative forms. For instance, –AR and –ER verbs do not undergo a vowel change (e > ie or o > ue) in the stem.
Vowel Change in –IR Verbs
Remember verbs like gemir
(to moan), repetir
(to repeat), mentir
(to lie), and preferir
(to prefer)? The first two undergo a e > i change, while the last pair are e > ie verbs. All of these verbs have an e > i irregularity in the preterite, but the trick is this: Only the third-person forms undergo the vowel change:
| gemí | gemimos |
| gemiste | gemisteis |
| gimió | gimieron |
| preferí | preferimos |
| preferiste | preferisteis |
| prefirió | prefirieron |
The same kind of change occurs with –IR verbs that have an o > u stem change in the present indicative. Again, the change only affects third-person conjugations in the preterite. Take a look at preterite conjugations of dormir (to sleep) and morir (to die):
| dormí | dormimos |
| dormiste | dormisteis |
| durmió | durmieron |
| morí | morimos |
| moriste | moristeis |
| murió | murieron |
Spelling Modification Verbs
All but one preterite ending begins with “i”; the only exception is –é (first person singular of –AR verbs). This is why –AR verbs with a stem that ends in c, g, or z require a spelling modification conjugated in the yo form to retain correct pronunciation with the –é ending.
In –AR verbs with a stem ending in “c” like explicar (to explain) and tocar (to touch), the final consonant changes to “qu”:
| expliqué | explicamos |
| explicaste | explicasteis |
| explicó | explicaron |
| toqué | tocamos |
| tocaste | tocasteis |
| tocó | tocaron |
If the –AR verb’s stem ends with a “g,” a “u” is added to the ending of the yo
form. Again, this is done to retain the hard “g” pronunciation. Take a look at the conjugations of the verbs jugar
(to play) and pagar
(to pay):
| jugué | jugamos |
| jugaste | jugasteis |
| jugó | jugaron |
| pagué | pagamos |
| pagaste | pagasteis |
| pagó | pagaron |
The third group of –AR verbs that undergo a similar spelling change in the yo
form includes verbs with a stem ending in “z.” In this case, the stem ending changes to “c.” Examples here are cruzar
(to cross) and realizar
(to realize):
| crucé | cruzamos |
| cruzaste | cruzasteis |
| cruzó | cruzaron |
| realicé | realizamos |
| realizaste | realizasteis |
| realizó | realizaron |
Spelling modification also occurs in –ER and –IR verbs that have a stem ending in a vowel, such as the –uir verbs. The spelling change is in the ending: In the third-person forms, the “i” of the ending changes to a “y.” For example, here are the conjugations of concluir
(to conclude) and huir
(to flee):
| concluí | concluimos |
| concluiste | concluisteis |
| concluyó | concluyeron |
| huí | huimos |
| huiste | huisteis |
| huyó | huyeron |
QUESTION?
Is there a preterite form of
hay
(there is, there are)?
Yes, the preterite form is hubo.
For example: Hubo de todo:
violencia, amor, tristeza.
(There was a little bit of everything— violence, love, sadness.) Note that the sentence refers to a specific event. The imperfect form of this verb is more frequently used.
Other verbs with a stem ending in a vowel include leer
(to read) and oír
(to hear). They follow the same change, plus require extra accent marks to retain the stress over the “i”:
| leí | leímos |
| leíste | leísteis |
| leyó | leyeron |
| oí | oímos |
| oíste | oísteis |
| oyó | oyeron |
A Group of Their Own
A set of verbs—including –AR, –ER, and –IR verbs—have irregular conjugations in the preterite, including an irregular stem and a slightly different set of endings. These endings are:
| –e | –imos |
| –iste | –isteis |
| –o | –ieron |
These endings are very similar to the regular preterite –ER and –IR verb endings, except for the yo
form and the lack of accent marks in some of the forms. The endings are added to a modified stem:
| infinitive | preterite stem | translation |
| andar | anduv– | to walk |
| caber | cup– | to fit |
| decir | dij– | to say |
| estar | estuv– | to be |
| hacer | hic– (hiz–) | to do |
| poder | pud– | to be able to |
| poner | pus– | to put |
| producir | produj– | to produce |
| querer | quis– | to want |
| saber | sup– | to know |
| tener | tuv– | to have |
| traer | traj– | to bring |
| venir | vin– | to arrive |
ESSENTIAL
The irregular verbs listed here may also follow additional irregularities based on spelling modification rules discussed earlier. For example, hacer (to do) becomes hizo in the third-person singular (él, ella, Ud. ) conjugation.
| pude | pudimos |
| pudiste | pudisteis |
| pudo | pudieron |
| produje | produjimos |
| produjiste | produjisteis |
| produjo | produjeron |
Note that other verbs ending in –ucir will also follow the same irregularity as the producir in the third-person plural form. The “i” drops out from the ending to retain the hard “h” sound of the Spanish letter “j.”
Completely Irregular
In addition to the verbs covered so far, a few more have their own irregularities. Dar (to give) takes on –ER/–IR verb endings, but without the accent marks; ver (to see) also drops the accent marks. Finally, ser (to be) and i r (to go) share the same forms in the preterite tense, and the stem looks nothing like either of the verbs—it’s “fu–.”
| di | dimos |
| diste | disteis |
| dio | dieron |
| vi | vimos |
| viste | visteis |
| vio | vieron |
| fui | fuimos |
| fuiste | fuisteis |
| fue | fueron |
What You Were Doing—the Imperfect
The alternative to the preterite tense is the imperfect. This version of the Spanish past tense is used to describe ongoing past actions, or actions that occurred habitually. Here are a few examples of the imperfect tense in action:
Estudiábamos juntos casi todos los días.
Almost every day we studied together.
En los años setenta, ellos vivían en la calle Main.
In the seventies, they lived on Main Street.
Mientras ella miraba la televisión, yo terminaba mis tareas.
While she was watching television, I was finishing my chores.
Conjugating verbs in the imperfect tense is very easy. All you need to do is drop the infinitive ending and add the proper imperfect ending:
| –AR Verbs | –ER and –IR Verbs | ||
| –aba –ábamos | –ía –íamos | ||
| –abas –abais | –ías –íais | ||
| –aba –aban | –ía –ían |
The only irregularly conjugated verbs are i r
(to go), ser
(to be), and ver
(to see):
| iba | íbamos |
| ibas | ibais |
| iba | iban |
| era | éramos |
| eras | erais |
| era | eran |
| veía | veíamos |
| veías | veíais |
| veía | veían |
Also, as you might have noticed from one of the example sentences, the imperfect form of hay is había.
FACT
You can use the imperfect tense to talk about the time or date when a certain event took place. For example: ¿Qué hora era cuando te enteraste qué pasó? (What time was it when you found out what happened?)
A Point of Comparison
The easiest way to understand the differences between preterite and imperfect tenses is to see them used together in the same sentence:
Estaba en la cama cuando oí los ruidos.
I was in bed when I heard the sounds.
Teresa anunció ayer que pensaba recomenzar sus estudios.
Yesterday Teresa announced that she was thinking of returning to her studies.
Generalmente, llegaba al trabajo a tiempo, pero aquel día llegué muy tarde.
Generally, I arrived to work on time, but that day I arrived very late.
In the first example, the imperfect is used to show the continual action (I was in bed) while the preterite illustrates the specific action (I heard the sounds). In the second example, the imperfect is used to describe Teresa’s general thoughts over a period of time, while the preterite describes the specific action of making the announcement. In the third example, the imperfect form of llegar shows habitual action, while the same verb in the preterite tense describes a specific action on one particular day.
It’s Not the Same Thing
A few of the verbs change in meaning depending on whether they are in the preterite or the imperfect form. Compare the following pair:
Conoció a Jorge en Toledo.
She met Jorge in Toledo.
Conocía a Jorge por mucho tiempo.
She knew Jorge for a very long time.
In the preterite, which signals a specific action, conocer
is translated as “to meet.” In the imperfect, the past tense of ongoing actions, conocer
indicates how long you’ve known someone or something. The same changes of meaning can be seen in poder
(to be able to), saber
(to know), and tener
(to have):
No pude completar los ejercicios.
I didn’t manage to complete the exercises.
No podía completar los ejercicios.
I wasn’t able to complete the exercises.
Supe la verdad demasiado tarde.
I found out the truth too late.
No sabía la verdad.
I didn’t know the truth.
Tuvimos una idea.
We got an idea.
Teníamos mucha hambre.
We were very hungry.
Past Progressive Forms
Just as there are two past-tense forms of hay (there is, there are), there are also two versions of the progressive form: the preterite progressive and the imperfect progressive. As you might recall from Chapter 9, progressive forms of the verb are formed with the verb estar (to be), plus the present participle.
Of the two forms, by far the more common one is the imperfect progressive. This makes sense, because the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing actions:
Estaba cocinando la cena.
She was cooking dinner.
Estaba trabajando cuando oí las noticias.
I was working when I heard the news.
The preterite progressive is less common, but it also has its uses. You can use it to show action that was in progress in the past but was then completed:
Estuve trabajando hasta que oí las noticias.
I was working until I heard the news.
Practice Makes Perfect
Conjugate the verbs in parentheses; choose between the preterite and imperfect tense:
1. ¿(Tú) ________________ (dormir) un rato?
2. Hace tres años que nuestra abuela ________________ (morirse).
3. La maestra nunca ________________ (cansarse) de nuestras preguntas.
4. Generalmente la enfermera ________________ (comer) el desayuno a las ocho.
5. Yo ________________ (pensar) terminar el trabajo a las cinco, pero ________________ (terminar) a las siete.
6. Cuando (estar) en el grupo de rock, yo ________________ (tocar) la guitarra y Ernesto ________________ (tocar) la batería.
7. ¿Ya (ella) te ________________ (decir) qué pasó?
8. ¿Ustedes ________________ (leer) la novela Rayuela de Julio Cortázar?
9. Los clases ________________ (acabar) en junio.
10. Nosotros ________________ (dar) el dinero a la camarera.
11. En aquellos días, ellos ________________ (preferir) el cine a los libros.
12. Usted ________________ (estar) trabajando cuando se ________________ (apagarse) la luz.
13. Los niños ________________ (estar) en cama cuando ________________ (oír) los ruidos.
14. Yo ________________ (conocer) a mi marido en la fiesta de Navidad.
15. El año pasado, yo ________________ (dormir) por lo menos ocho horas cada noche.
16. Ellos ________________ (venir) por la noche.
17. ________________ (haber) mucha comida para los invitados.
18. El gerente ________________ (concluir) su lectura con aplausos.
19. Yo siempre ________________ (decir) que no tendrás suerte en este proyecto.
20. Mientras nosotros ________________ (caminar) a casa, ________________ (empezar) a llover.
To check your answers, refer to the answer key in Appendix D.