Simple past tense in Spanish: Formation, use and examples

The past simple in Spanish, also known as "Pretérito Perfecto Simple" or "Pretérito Indefinido", is one of the verb tenses used to express actions that occurred at a certain time in the past and that have already been completed. It is a fundamental and widely used verb tense in Spanish, especially in narrative and historical contexts and to relate past events in a timely manner.


The Spanish simple past tense at a glance

The past simple in Spanish is a verb tense that is used to talk about actions or situations that occurred in the past and have already ended. It is the first past tense you learn in Spanish, since it is the easiest to conjugate and one of the most used in everyday speech. It tends to be used more in Latin America than in Spain, but in general all Spanish speakers use it regularly. The past simple is formed differently for regular and irregular verbs.

Formation of the past simple in Spanish

To form the simple past, you must take the verb stem and add the corresponding ending according to the subject personal pronoun. The endings are different for regular verbs in -ar, -er and -ir. With irregular verbs, it is a little different. Here you have to learn the conjugation of verbs by heart.

Below you will find some examples of regular verbs and some irregular verbs that you can use to learn how to conjugate the past simple in Spanish:


Examples of regular verbs

Verbs ending with -ar

Hablar(Speaking)
Yo: -é Yo hablé
Tú: -aste Tú hablaste
Él/Ella/Usted: -ó Él habló
Nosotros/Nosotras: -amos Nosotros hablamos
Vosotros/Vosotras: -asteis Vosotros hablasteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: -aron Ustedes hablaron

Verbs ending with -er

Comer(Eating)
Yo: -í Yo comí
Tú: -iste Tú comiste
Él/Ella/Usted: -ió Ella comió
Nosotros/Nosotras: -imos Nosotras comimos
Vosotros/Vosotras: -isteis Vosotras comisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: -ieron Ellas comieron

Verbs ending with -ir

Vivir(Living)
Yo: -í Yo viví
Tú: -iste Tü viviste
Él/Ella/Usted: -ió Usted vivió
Nosotros/Nosotras: -imos Nosotros vivimos
Vosotros/Vosotras: -isteis Vosotros vivisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: -ieron Ustedes vivieron
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Examples of irregular verbs

Ser(to be)

Yo: fui
Tú: fuiste
Él/Ella/Usted: fue
Nosotros/Nosotras: fuimos
Vosotros/Vosotras: fuisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: fueron

Tener (to have)

Yo: tuve
Tú: tuviste
Él/Ella/Usted: tuvo
Nosotros/Nosotras: tuvimos
Vosotros/Vosotras: tuvisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: tuvieron

Hacer(to make)

Yo: hice
Tú: hiciste
Él/Ella/Usted: hizo
Nosotros/Nosotras: hicimos
Vosotros/Vosotras: hicisteis
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: hicieron

Use of the Simple past tense in Spanish

  • Completed actions in the past: The past simple is used to talk about actions that took place at a specific time in the past and have already finished. For example: "Yesterday I studied for the exam" (the action of studying occurred at a past time and has already concluded).
  • Sequence of events: In narratives and stories, the simple past is used to establish a sequence of past actions. For example, "I came home, cooked dinner, and then watched a movie."
  • Habitual past actions: Although the imperfect past tense is most common to describe habitual actions in the past, in some contexts, the simple past can also be used to express repeated actions in the past. For example, "When I was a kid, I played soccer every day."
  • Past actions in a definite time frame: When mentioning a specific time period in the past, the past simple is used to describe actions that occurred within that period. For example, "Last year I traveled to Europe."

Remember that the simple past and the imperfect past have different uses and nuances in Spanish, and it is essential to understand when to use each tense to correctly express past actions in different contexts.


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