Transcript The Preterite/El Pretérito

The Preterite/El Pretérito
Avancemos 2 – Unidad 1 Lección 2
El Pretérito
The preterite tense in Spanish is used to tell
what happened at a particular moment in the
past. It is one of two past tenses that you will
learn this year.
 It is used for actions that are completed and
done. (Boom actions).
 Examples:
He wrote a postcard.
She rode the horse.
They visited the museum.
El Pretérito
 Like present tense verbs, you form the preterite
tense of regular verbs by crossing out the AR/ER/ or
IR ending and adding a new ending to the stem.
 The endings are pretty easy to remember for regular
verbs (there is a song – YAY!!!)
 We are going to begin by learning the regular “AR”
verb endings.
El Pretérito
Regular – AR preterite endings
Verb – visitar (to visit)
Cross off ar – stem = visit
Yo visité - I visited
Nosotros visitamos –
we visited
Tú visitaste – you visited
Él/ella
Usted visitó – he/she/you
visited
Ellos/ellas
Ustedes visitaron They/you guys visited
El Pretérito
NOTE: The nosotros/nosotras ending in the preterite
tense has the same ending as in the present tense.
Look for context clues in the sentence to help you
determine whether the verb is in the present or the
past tense.
Example: El año pasado nosotros tomamos muchas fotos.
Clue words - El año pasado (last year). Last year tells you that this
sentence is in the preterite (past) tense and not the present.
El Pretérito
Some useful words and phrases you should know to use with the
preterite tense. (****add these to your packet – you will need them)









El año pasado =
El mes pasado =
La semana pasada =
Ayer =
Anteayer =
Anoche =
Una vez =
De repente =
Ya =
 Last year
 Last month
 Last week
 Yesterday
 The day before yesterday
 Last night
 One time
 Suddenly
 already
El Pretérito – Práctica
1) Conjugate the following verbs in the preterite tense.
2) Then, translate the sentence into English.
1.
Ellas _______ (pescar) ayer.
1.
pescaron/They fished yesterday.
2.
Yo ________ (visitar) el museo
anteayer.
2.
visité/I visited the museum the
day before yesterday.
3.
Usted ______ (montar) a caballo
el mes pasado.
3.
montó/You (formal) rode a horse
last month.
4.
La semana pasada mis amigos y
yo ______ (acampar).
4.
acampamos/Last week my
friends and I camped.
El Pretérito – Los verbos regulares “er” & “ir”
 The preterite endings for regular “er” and “ir” verbs are
different from the preterite endings for “ar” verbs. 
 However, the good news is that regular “er” and regular “ir”
verbs have THE SAME preterite endings!! 
 So, once you have memorized the “er” endings, you will also
know the “ir” endings 
 More good news!! There is also A SONG to help you remember
the “ar”/”er”/”ir” preterite endings!!!! :D
Pronunciación de los vocales
Before learning the song to memorize
regular preterite endings, it is important
to learn the sounds of the vowels in
Spanish.
They are somewhat confusing in the song
until you learn how they sound in Spanish.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN THESE VOWEL
SOUNDS!!!
Los Vocales - They are the same vowels in
Spanish and English. (a.e.i.o.u)
Vowels
 -a
 -e
 -I
 -o
 -u
Sound it makes in Spanish
 Pronounced “aaaah” as in apple
 Pronounced “eh” as in tres
 Pronounced “eee” as in tree
 Pronounced “oh” like the English “oh”
 Pronounced “oooo” as in tú.
Práctica del Paquete
1. Ellas _____ (pescar) ayer.
1. Ellas pescaron ayer.
2. Yo (visitar) el museo
anteayer.
2. Yo visité el museo
anteayer.
3. Usted ____ (montar) a
caballo el mes pasado.
3. Usted montó a caballo el
mes pasado.
4. La semana pasada mis
amigos y yo _____
(acampar).
4. La semana pasada mis
amigos y yo
acampamos.