Past in Spanish
Past in Spanish
Past in Spanish
En español existen 4 pasados, pero en esta clase vamos a ver los primero dos pasados
que son un poco mas faciles de entender, estos dos tiempos son: el preterito y el
imperfecto vamo a ver los usos y a congujacion de cada uno seguidamente
estudiaremos tanto los verbos regualares como lor irregulares y alguna excepciones.
In Spanish there are 4 past, but in this class we will see the first two past that are a bit
easier to understand, these two times are: the preterite and the imperfect we will see
the uses and conjugation of each one will then study both the regular verbs like
irregular ones and some exceptions.
In Spanish there are many ways to talk about the past, and as you become more
proficient, you’ll learn a variety of compound tenses. However, the two verb tenses
that you will use most often to talk about the past are the preterit and the imperfect.
The tense you use depends on the context of the sentence. We will begin with the
preterit.
The meaning of the preterit is similar to the simple past in English.
HABLAR
yo hablé
tú hablaste
él/ella/Ud habló
nosotros/as hablamos
vosotros/as hablasteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. hablaron
COMER VIVIR
yo comí viví
tú comiste viviste
Uso: Use
In all of these sentences the actions, events and states are viewed as being completed
in the past and not in progress. Either a beginning or an end is being described.
For example, in the following sentence Katie has begun to know many people
(conoció) and has finished with making lots of friends (hizo).
Para identificar un poco mas facil en que casos usamos el preterito ( indefinido),
pensemos que las acciones se realizan un tiempo definido en el pasado y usamos
marcadores como: ayer, hace un año, la semana pasada, anoche, el mes pasado, en
2006, el otro dia.
ayer yesterday
anteayer the day before yesterday
anoche last night
el otro día the other day
la semana pasada last week
el mes pasado last month
el año pasado last year
Uses of the Preterit: In general, the preterit is used to describe completed
actions in the past at specific points in time.
1. To Indicate a Single Event that Took Place in the Past: These actions began and
ended in the past. They are usually verbs that communicate an instant change in
the action.
These actions are completed at a definite moment in the past. They are easy to
spot since they usually have a time frame in the sentence.
3. To Narrate Individual Events: This is common in relating a story line where there
are multiple actions presented.
Me levanté, me vestí, y salí para la fiesta. (I got up, got dressed, and left for
the party.)
Tú entraste, bebiste un vaso de agua y comiste una hamburguesa. (You
came in, drank a glass of water, and ate a hamburger.)
Examples:
Regular Preterit Forms: There are only two sets of endings for regular preterit
verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. Simply remove the
infinitive ending and add the correct preterit ending depending on who the subject
of the action is.Preterit Verb Endings
Note that the 1st and 3rd person singular have tildes (written accents) to
differentiate them from present tense conjugations.
Also, the 1st person plural (nosotros) endings for -AR and -IR verbs are the same
for both preterit and present tenses. The tense must be deduced from the given
context and words that signify the preterit
Unfortunately, there are MANY irregular verbs in the past tense. The good thing is that
they are common and the patterns are easy to recognize.
A. Change in the 3red person singular (he / she / you) and 3rd person plural (they / as
/ you)
O→U I→Y
E→I
MORIR INFLUIR to
PEDIR / to request) to die influence
Despedirse
Dormir Leer
To see off ( to
To sleep To read
say goodbye
divertirse to
oír
have fun
Preferir to Contribuir to
prefer contribute
Vestir – to
vestirse huir
wear
Distribuir – to
Sentirse – to feel
distribute
Consentir – to
allow
Indicative
Formas completamente irregulars sin acentos escrito.
yo fui fui vi di
Indicative
Irregularities are in red
Ejemplos:
una vez el otro día
one time the other day
ayer entonces
yesterday then
anteayer anteanoche
the day before yesterday the night before last
The imperfect tense (el imperfecto) is one of the several past tenses in Spanish. It is used mainly to
describe past habitual actions or to set the scene in the past, what a person “used to” do or “was”
doing. Below you will find when to use it as well as how to conjugate it for regular and irregular
verbs.
/ comer / vivir
Yo caminaba por el parque cada domingo. (I walked through the park every Sunday.)
Mi abuela caminaba por el parque cada sábado. (My grandmother walked through the
park every Saturday.)
Yo tenía un perro. (I used to have a dog.)
Mi vecino tenía un perro. (My neighbor used to have a dog.)
IR:
These are the activities that you did over and over for a long period of undetermined time.
Almorzábamos cada día. (We used to eat lunch together every day.
Todos los sábados las mujeres iban de compras. (Every Saturday the ladies would go
shopping.)
Íbamos a la piscina todos los días en el verano.
We used to go to the pool every day in the summer.
Cuando yo era joven, pasaba mucho tiempo en la casa de mi abuela.
When I was young, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandma’s house.
Los picnics siempre tomaban lugar en el parque.
The picnics always took place (or always used to take place) in the park
Estaba durmiendo cuando el teléfono sonó. (I was sleeping when the telephone rang.)
El Estaba cocinando la cena cuando entré a la casa. (He was cooking dinner when I
came in the house.)
Eran las tres de la tarde. (It was three o´clock in the afternoon.)
Era el jueves, el 9 mayo. (It was Thursday, the 9th of May.)
4. Describing a Scene or Person in the Past
Me sentía feliz con mi trabajo nuevo. (I was happy with my new job.)
Quería mudarme a otro país. (I wanted to move to another country.)
6. Para expresar que dos o más eventos simultáneous estaban en progreso en el pasado. To express
that two or more simultaneous events were in progress in the past.
Era un día muy bonito. Hacía mucho sol y soplaba un viento suave. Se escuchaban los
gritos de los niños que jugaban en el parque cuando de repente...
It was a nice day. It was very sunny and a gentle breeze was blowing. One could heathe
shouts of the children that were playing in the park when suddenly…
Useful Phrases that Trigger the Imperfect
a menudo frecuentemente
often frequently
generalmente siempre
usually always
mucho nunca
a lot never
1. Hace dos años, el transporte público (ser) ____________ mucho más barato.
2. En verano (ir/nosotros) todas las tardes a la playa.
3. Nuria y Ramón (ser ) _________ los más jóvenes del grupo.
4. Al anochecer (ir/nosotros) _____________a pasear.
5. El jardín de Inés (ser) _______________ el más florido del pueblo.
Todo tipo de verbos. Conjuga los verbos entre paréntesis en pretérito imperfecto.
b) To refer an action that starts in the past and continues into the present
c) To refer to the inmediate or recent past, often with adverbs such as,
hoy, esta tarde. English may use the simple past simple rather than the
perfect tense
In English, the present perfect is expressed with the auxiliary verb to have in
the present tense + the past participle: I have gone; She has slept. In Spanish
the preterite perfect is formed with the verb haber in the present tense +
the past participle.
To form the past participle remove the - ar – er or ir ending and add – ado
to the stem of ar verbs, and ido to that of er and ir verbs
Present of Haber
Yo he
Tu has
él/ella/usted ha
nosotros hemos
ellos/ ellas / ustedes han
Examples:
Mi madre ha estado enferma. My mother has been sick. (Implies that
she is still sick.)
The Preterite Perfect is often used with the adverbs ya (already/yet) and
todavía
—No hemos comido todavía. —We haven’t eaten yet. / We still haven’t
eaten.
Irregular Verbs
Here is an example of the verb estar in the preterite perfect:
él/ella/usted ha estado he, she, it has been; you have singular, formal)
ellos/ ellas / ustedes han estado we have been
you have been (plural,
informal) they, you have been (plural)
note There are a couple of exceptions, however. As you have learned, with
time expressions using hacer, the present tense is used to talk about an
action continuing into the present.
Vive aquí desde hace tres años. He’s lived here for three years.
Hace media hora que estoy esperando I’ve been waiting for half an hour.
- Also, to say you have just done something, the verb acabar de + infinitive
is used in the present tense.
-Finally, the verb llevar in the present can also be used idiomatically to talk
about how long something has been happening.
Estoy cansada. Llevo tres horas estudiando. I’m tired. I’ve been studying for
three hours.
¿Ustedes llevan cuánto tiempo aquí? How long have you been here?
La conjutacion del verbo HABER
-
EJERCICIOS PASADO PERFECTO
1.Practice forming the present perfect and saying it aloud with each subject
and verb provided.
1. Tú... (terminar)
2. Nosotras... (Sentir )
3. ¿Usted... ? (vender)
4. Yo... (nunca,ir)
6. Él... (romper)
8. ¿Ella... (llamar)
? 9. Ustedes... (seguir)
The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action that happened prior to
another action in the past. This is similar to its use in English: she had gone,
they hadn’t eaten.
The past perfect is formed by using the imperfect forms of haber + the past
participle. All rules regarding agreement and placement of verbs are the same
as with the preterite perfect.
Imperfect of Haber
Yo había
Tu habías
él/ella/usted había
nosotros habíamos
ellos/ ellas / ustedes habían
You will often see the past perfect used with the expressions ya (already/yet),
todavía (still/yet), antes (de) (before), después (de) (after), and cuando
(when).
Examples:
Silvia dijo que había llegado a las cinco. Silvia said that she had arrived
at five o’clock.
El ladrón entró porque Julio no había cerrado la puerta con llave.
Note: The comparison with the past action can be stated or implied.
Todavía no había recibido una respuesta ayer cuando hablé con ella.
She still hadn’t received an answer when I spoke to her yesterday.
¿Ya habían ido al museo antes? Had you been to the museum
before?
Todavía no habían terminado cuando me fui. They still hadn’t finished
when I left.
Join the following pairs of sentences by putting one sentence in the preterit
and one in the past perfect and using ya and cuando when possible. Follow
the example given.
Ejemplo : Yo salí. Después me llamó Javi para cancelar. I went out. Then
Javi called me to cancel.
I’d already gone out when Javi called me to cancel.
2. Gema se fue. Después su jefe la buscó. Gema left. Then her boss looked
for her.
__ No one had finished the exam when the time was up.
5. No le (decir/yo) la verdad.______________________________
Ejercicios de comprension lectora presente – pasado
Y por verme libre de trabajo tan macabro le dije que una fotografía era
mejor que un dibujo, le aseguré que por la noche pueden hacerse
fotografías, y echando mano de muchos razonamientos logré que
Melchor se apartase de mí en busca de un fotógrafo.
¡Quién tendría corazón para negarse! Cogí papel y lápiz y allá me fui con
Melchor dispuesto a hacer un retrato del muchacho moribundo.
Sin decir nada, me senté a dibujar lo que contemplan mis ojos de tierra,
y solamente al cabo de algún tiempo conseguí acostumbrarme al drama
que presenciaba y aun olvidarlo un poco, para poder trabajar,
entusiasmado, como un artista. Y cuando el dibujo estaba ya en su
punto, la voz de Melchor, agrandada por tanto silencio, me hirió con
estas palabras:
-Por el alma de sus difuntos, no me lo retrate así. ¡No le ponga esa cara
tan cadavérica y tan triste!
-Usted bien sabe cómo era mi niño. Haga memoria, señor, y dibújemelo
riendo.
-He tenido muchos hijos, pero el más bonito de todos fue el que se me
murió. Ahí está el retrato, que no miente.
Preguntas: