Lesson 2: Past (Preterite) Tense of Regular Verbs

singular	plural
I = yo	nosotros = we
you (familiar) = tú	vosotros = you (familiar)
you = usted he = él she = ella	ustedes = "you all" ellos = they ellas = they (feminine)

Verbs that End in "AR":

hablar
to speak

trabajar
to work

comprar
to buy

Drop the –ar and add:

yo hablé =

I spoke
I did speak

Verbs that End in "ER":

comer
to eat

correr
to run

aprender
to learn

Drop the –er and add:

yo comí =

I ate
I did eat

Verbs that End in "IR":

vivir
to live

escribir
to write

abrir
to open

Drop the –ir and add:

yo viví =

I live
I did live

la semana pasada
last week

ayer
yesterday

anoche
last night

hace cinco minutos
five minutes ago

Hear Sample Spanish Sentences

The audio sample below provides the correct Spanish pronunciation of the following sentences.

I spoke with María yesterday.	Yo hablé con María ayer.
You worked last night.	Usted trabajó anoche.
He bought the books last week.	Él compró los libros la semana pasada.
I ate the chocolate five minutes ago.	Yo comí el chocolate hace cinco minutos.
They ran yesterday.	Ellos corrieron ayer.
She read the book last night.	Ella leyó* el libro anoche.
They didn’t read the book last night.	Ellos no leyeron* el libro anoche.
We lived in Mexico last year.	Nosotros vivimos en México el año pasado.
They opened the door five minutes ago.	Ellos abrieron la puerta hace cinco minutos.
You guys didn’t open the door.	Ustedes no abrieron la puerta.
Did you buy a house last week? (two options when forming questions)	¿Usted compró una casa la semana pasada? ¿Compró usted una casa la semana pasada?
Did you buy a house (familiar).	¿Tú compraste una casa? ¿Compraste tú una casa?

* leyeron: (leer) –ieron changes to –yeron in verbs with two "e"s
* leyó: (leer) -ió changes to –yó in verbs with two "e"s

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