HAZLO AHORA: WHAT DOES IS

MEAN TO CONJUGATE?

The Preterite of –ar verbs

English Grammar Connection

Tense refers to when an action takes place.

Many verbs are spelled differently in the past tense than they are in the present tense. For regular verbs, the endings change.

Examples:

He talks. Juan habla. He talked. Juan habló.

Preterite of –ar verbs

The preterite tense in Spanish tells what happened at a particular moment in the past.

How do you form the preterite form of –ar verbs? Here’s how…

Conjugando verbos

After dropping the infinitive verb ending, you are left with the verb stem.

Hablar Habl -ar (infinitive verb ending)Habl- (verb stem)

So then, you add the verb endings according to the person that you’re talking about/to

Conjugando verbos que terminan con -ar

Yo (I) Stem + é

Tú (you-informal) Stem + aste

El (he), Ella (she), Usted (you-formal)

Stem + ó

Nosotros/Nosotras (We)

Stem + amos

Vosotros/Vosotras

(You all-Informal)

Stem + asteis

Ellos, Ellas (They), Ustedes (you guys)

Stem + aron

Preterite of –ar verbs

Like present-tense verbs, you form the preterite tense of regular verbs by adding tense endings to the verb stem.

Hablar To speak/talk

yo hablé nosotros(as) hablamos

tú hablaste vosotros/as hablasteis

usted/él/ella habló ustedes/ellos/ellas hablaron

Examples

Here are some examples with preterite verbs…

Durante las vacaciones, yo monté a caballo, mi mamá visitó un museo y a mis hermanos nadaron.

During vacation, I went horseback riding, my mom visited a museum, and my brothers went swimming.

Nosotros Form

The nosotros ending in the preterite tense is the same as in the present tense.

Look for clues in the sentence to help you determine whether the verb is in the present or the past tense.

Example: Acampamos anoche en el parque. We camped last night in the park.

The word anoche tells you that the verb acampamos is in the preterite tense, not the present.

Practice

Conjugate the following verbs in the preterite!1.Yo (acampar)2.Ellos (visitar un museo)3.Ella (tomar fotos)4.Tú (mandar tarjetas postales)5.Nosotros (tomar fotos)6.Vosotros (acampar)

Practice

Tell who did the following activities…1.Yo / montar a caballo2.Nosotros / viajar a la playa3.Ellos / acampar4.Gaby / tomar fotos5.Tú / mandar tarjetas postales6.Gaby y Alejandro / hablar7.Nosotras / escuchar música8.Mamá / comprar recuerdos9.Mi amiga y yo / regatear10.Tú / visitar el mercado

Practice

Complete the postcard with the correct form of the underlined verbs.

Hola, Andrea. Me encanta Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.

Anteayer, nosotros caminar en las montañas. Papá les mandar unas tarjetas postales a sus amigos. Mamá y Sandra montar al caballo. Yo tomar muchas fotos. Ayer, mi familia y yo visitar un museo. Qué aburrido! ¿Tú visitar un museo durante las vacaciones? Prefiero ir a pescar.

Tu amigo, Alejandro

WORK ON THE WORKSHEET ALONE, WITH A PARTNER, OR IN A GROUP.

*IF YOU FINISH EARLY, PRACTICE WRITING SENTENCES WITH EACH PRONOUN AND THE

VERBS “ESTUDIAR”, “ENSENAR”, AND “HABLAR”

Guided Practice/Independent

Practice