1. Los verbos regulares
en el pretérito

2. Some regular –ar verbs in the
preterite tense. – to improve
mejorar
acampar – to camp descansar – to relax
aceptar – to accept dibujar – to draw mirar – to look at, to watch
arreglar – to arrange nadar – to swim
disfrutar – to enjoy necesitar – to need
ayudar – to help
durar – to last olvidar – to forget
bailar – to dance
bajar – to go down enviar – to send pasar – to pass, to spend time
bucear – to scuba dive escuchar – to listen to patinar – to skate
caminar – to walk esperar – to wait, to hope pintar – to paint
cocinar – to cook practicar – to practice
esquiar – to ski preguntar – to ask, to question
completar – to complete estudiar – to study
comprar – to buy preparar – to prepare
explicar – to explain quitar – to remove
cantar – to sing gritar – to scream, to yell
celebrar – to celebrate recomendar – to recommend
ganar – to win, to earn regresar – to return
cenar – to eat dinner hablar – to speak, to talk
cerrar – to close terminar – to end
invitar – to invite tomar – to take, to drink
contestar – to answer lavar – to wash
continuar – to continue trabajar – to work
limpiar – to clean usar – use
cortar – to cut llamar – to call
cuidar – to take care viajar – to travel
llevar – to wear, to carry visitar – to visit
dejar – to leave
desayunar – to eat breakfast

3. Let’s review the pronouns.
Yo I Nosotros We
Tú You (informal)
Él He Ellos They (m.)
Ella She Ellas They (f.)
Usted You (formal) Ustedes You all

4. REGULAR VERBS THAT END IN –AR
To conjugate the regular verbs that end in –ar in the
preterite tense, you must remove the –ar ending and
replace it with the following endings.
Yo -é Nosotros -amos
Tú -aste
Él Ellos
Ella -ó Ellas -aron
Usted Ustedes

5. Here is an example:
Let’s conjugate the verb Hablar (to speak, to talk)
You should remove the –ar ending from the verb Hablar and add
the correct ending for each subject.
Yo hablé (I spoke) Nosotros hablamos
(We spoke)
Tú hablaste (You spoke)
Él (He spoke) Ellos (They spoke)
Ella habló (She spoke) Ellas hablaron (They spoke)
Usted (You spoke -formal) Ustedes (You all spoke)

6. -ar Verbs that end in –car, -gar and –zar
These verbs have an irregular ‘yo’ form.
• -car : Change the c to qu
– Ejemplo: practicar – yo practiqué (I practiced)
• -gar : Change the g to gu
– Ejemplo: jugar – yo jugué (I played)
• -zar : Change the z to c
– Ejemplo: empezar – yo empecé (I began)

7. Some –ar verbs that end in
–car, –gar and –zar
Verbs that end in –car Verbs that end in –gar Verbs that end in –zar
buscar – to look for jugar – to play almorzar – to eat lunch
marcar – to dial llegar – to arrive cruzar – to cross
practicar – to practice pagar – to pay empezar – to begin
sacar – to take out organizar – to organize
tocar – to play (an instrument)

8. REGULAR VERBS THAT END IN –ER AND –IR
• Both –er and –ir verbs have the same endings in the
preterite tense.
• To conjugate the regular verbs that end in –er and –ir
in the preterite tense, you must remove the –er or –ir
ending and replace it with the following endings:
Yo -í Nosotros -imos
Tú -iste
Él Ellos
Ella -ió Ellas -ieron
Usted Ustedes

9. Some regular –er verbs in the
preterite tense.
aprender – to learn entender – to understand
beber – to drink nacer – to be born
comer – to eat perder – to lose
comprender – to understand responder – to answer
correr – to run romper – to break
defender – to defend vender – to sell

10. Here is an example:
Let’s conjugate the verb Comer (to eat)
You should remove the –er ending from the verb Comer and add
the correct ending for each subject.
Yo comí (I ate) Nosotros comimos (We ate)
Tú comiste (You ate)
Él (He ate) Ellos (They ate)
Ella comió (She ate) Ellas comieron (They ate)
Usted (You ate -formal) Ustedes (You all ate)

11. Some regular –ir verbs in the
preterite tense.
abrir – to open partir – to leave
añadir – to add permitir – to allow
asistir – to attend recibir – to receive
compartir – to share salir – to go out, to leave
describir – to describe subir – to go up
descubrir – to discover vivir – to live
escribir – to write

12. Here is an example:
Let’s conjugate the verb Escribir (to write)
You should remove the –ir ending from the verb Escribir and add
the correct ending for each subject.
Yo escribí (I wrote) Nosotros escribimos
(We wrote)
Tú escribiste (You wrote)
Él (He wrote) Ellos (They wrote)
Ella escribió (She wrote) Ellas escribieron (They wrote)
Usted (You wrote -formal) Ustedes (You all wrote)

13. Let’s conjugate some more
regular verbs in the preterite tense.
Cantar – to sing Preparar – to prepare
canté cantamos preparé preparamos
cantaste preparaste
cantó cantaron preparó pepararon
Correr – to run Recibir – to receive
corrí corrimos recibí recibimos
corriste recibiste
corrió corrieron recibió recibieron

14. Actividad 1. Translate the following sentences.
1. I received a gift last week.
Yo recibí un regalo la semana pasada.
2. The boys studied a lot last night.
Los chicos estudiaron mucho anoche.
3. My mother prepared paella yesterday.
Mi mamá preparó paella ayer.
4. You wrote a letter the day before yesterday.
Tú escribiste una carta anteayer.