Indicative Past Tenses

There are basically two main past tenses in Spanish which are not in compound form. These are the preterite 

tense and the imperfect tense. It is important to learn how to form each tense and when to use it.

In this post I will explain the preterite tense.

The preterite tense

The preterite tense is formed by taking the stem of the verb and adding these endings:

Verbs with an –IR or –ER ending

Yo - Í

Tú - ISTE

Él, ella - IÓ

Nosotros - IMOS

Vosotros - ISTEIS

Ellos, ellas – IERON

For example;

“Comí mi bocadillo con mis amigos durante la hora de la comida.” – “I ate my sándwich with my friends during the lunch hour.”

Verbs with an –AR ending

Yo - É

Tú - ASTE

Él, ella - Ó

Nosotros - AMOS

Vosotros - ASTEIS

Ellos, ellas – ARON

For example;

“Mis amigas terminaron sus deberes antes de la clase.” – “My friends finished their homework before the class.”

However, as is the case with most tenses, there are some irregular verbs you should know.

IR – to go (this one is highly irregular)

Fui

Fuiste

Fue

Fuimos

Fuisteis

Fueron

SER – to be (you will notice that the preterite tense for this one is the same as for IR, handy)

Fui

Fuiste

Fue

Fuimos

Fuisteis

Fueron

ESTAR – to be

Estuve

Estuviste

Estuvo

Estuvimos

Estuvisteis

Estuvieron

HACER – to do, to make

Hice

Hiciste

Hizo

Hicimos

Hicisteis

Hicieron

TENER – to have

Tuve

Tuviste

Tuvo

Tuvimos

Tuvisteis

Tuvieron

When do I use the preterite tense?

The preterite tense is used to describe events that were completed (or seen as completed) in the past. For example;

“El año pasado fui a España.” – “Last year I went to Spain.”

Here the preterite is used because the event is completed. The holiday was a one off, not an ongoing action that I did often.

The preterite is also used for an event that continued throughout a set period of time. For example;

“Estuvieron destinado en Barcelona tres años.” – “They were stationed in Barcelona for three years.”

Here the preterite is used because it is an event that happened in the past and the exact time frame is given. 

Ser and Estar

For this post I made reference to A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish (Fifth Edition) by John Butt and Carmen Benjamin (Chapter 29 – Ser and Estar) 

If you don’t already have this book I would recommend buying it as although it is quite expensive it is really helpful.

There really is no easy way to explain when to use ser and estar. You must just learn a few key rules.

Ser and estar both translate into English as “to be” but they are used in different instances.

Ser is used to answer questions about who or what something is.

For example, “Soy ingles.” – “I am English.” Ser is used here because being English is a permanent state.

Estar answers questions about where, how or in what condition something is in.

For example, “Estoy en el colegio.” – “I am at school.” Here estar is used because the person will not always be at school and it is therefore a temporary state.

However, ser and estar cannot just be sorted into permanent and temporary states. That would be too easy :) 

For example, ser is used with some adjectives such as ‘feliz’ (happy), ‘pobre’ (poor), ‘rico’ (rich) but for the most part these are exceptions to the rule so do not assume that similar adjectives take ser. 

The majority such as 'contento' (happy), 'animado' (full of life), 'deprimido' (depressed) take estar.

Location:

Ser must be used for the location of events: 

“La fiesta es en la casa de Juan.” – “The party is at John’s house.”

But estar must be used for the location of people or inanimate objects: 

“El bolígrafo está en la mesa.” – “The pen is on the table.”

Passive and continuous phrases:

Ser is used to form the passive: 

“El libro fue escribido por mi amigo.” – “The book was written by my friend.”

Estar is used for continuous verbs: 

“Está cantando.” – “He’s singing.”

The Present Tense

Even people who have been learning Spanish for years forget the basics from time to time so I thought that a recap of the basic tenses would be useful; starting with the present tense.

The present tense is fairly simple, it describes an action or state that is currently happening.

In regular verbs it is formed by adding these endings to the stem of the verb:

Verbs with an -ER ending

Yo - O 
Tú - ES
Él, ella - E
Nostros - EMOS
Vosotros - ÉIS
Ellos, ellas - EN

For example; 

"Como mi bocadillo con mis amigos durante la hora de la comida." - "I eat my sandwich with my friends during the lunch hour."

Verbs with an -AR ending

Yo - O 

Tú - AS

Él, ella - A

Nostros - AMOS

Vosotros - ÁIS

Ellos, ellas - AN

For example;

"Mis amigas terminan sus deberes antes de la clase." - "My friends are finishing their homework before the class."

Verbs with an -IR ending

Yo - O 

Tú - ES

Él, ella - E

Nostros - IMOS

Vosotros - ÍS

Ellos, ellas - EN

For example;

"Vivimos en una casa cerca de la universidad." - "We live in a house close to the university."

However, there are irregular verbs which do not follow the rule. Below are the most commonly used and their present tense forms.

IR - to go

Voy

Vas

Va

Vamos

Vais

Van

SER - to be (for more permanent states)

Soy

Eres

Es

Somos

Sois

Son

ESTAR - to be (for more temporary states)

Estoy

Estás

Está

Estamos

Están

HACER - to do or make (the only irregular part of this verb is the yo form but it's worth knowing)

Hago

Haces

Hace

Hacemos

Hacéis

Hacen

TENER - to have (this is a stem changing verb)

Tengo

Tienes

Tiene

Tenemos

Tenéis

Tienen