How to Use Simple Past Tense (Preterite) For -AR Verbs in Spanish

Good morning Steemians,

I thought I would do a lesson on how to form the past simple (preterite) tense for -AR verbs. So far, we've learned how to form the present tense using the endings -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.

An example of this would be the following:

Yo hablo = I speak
Tú hablas = you speak
Él/ella/usted habla = he/she/you (formal) speak
nosotros(as) hablamos = we speak
vosotros(as) habláis = you all (Spain) speak
ellos(as)/ustedes hablan = they speak/you all (Latin America) (Spain but formal) speak

Let's use this same verb hablar which means to speak or to talk, and now put it in the past simple tense.

The endings are as follows: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. These endings are added after we take off the -AR of the infinitive verb hablar. We replace -AR with any of the above endings to match with our subjects or subject pronouns.

Let's conjugate this verb in all forms in preterite (past simple)

yo hablé = I spoke
tú hablaste = you spoke
él/ella/usted habló = he/she/you (formal) spoke
nosotros(as) hablamos = we spoke (notice this is the same form as the present)
vosotros(as) hablasteis = you all (Spain) spoke
ustedes/ellos(as) hablaron = you all (Latin America) (Spain but formal)/ they spoke

(img. credit YouTube video

)

Now that we can conjugate the verb, let's use the forms in complete sentences.

1. Ayer yo hablé con ella. = Yesterday I spoke with her.
2. Tú no hablaste con la profesora la semana pasada. = You didn't speak with the professor (or H.S. teacher) last week.
3. Él no habló por teléfono anoche. = He didn't talk on the phone last night.
4. Nosotros hablamos el viernes pasado acerca del trabajo. = We spoke last Friday about the job.
5. ¿Vosotros hablasteis con vuestros abuelos en junio? = Did you all (Spain) speak with your grandparents in June?
6. Ellos solamente hablaron francés mientras estuvieron en Francia. = They only spoke French while they were in France.

Hope this helps those of you Steemians who are interested in Spanish!

Thanks for stopping by!

@vegansilverstack