CAPÍTULO 10 Gramática

CAP?TULO 10

Gram?tica

10.1 WORDS THAT INDICATE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

Up until now, you have been talking in Spanish about events happening in the present. In this lesson, you will learn to use the preterite tense to talk about events that happened in the past. When we use the preterite, there are often key contextual words that clue us to use the past tense. These words are often (but not always) "red flag' words that clue you to the use of the preterite. They are such words as:

TRIGGER WORDS IN TALKING ABOUT THE PAST

ayer por la ma?ana yesterday morning

ayer

yesterday

ayer por la tarde

yesterday afternoon

anteayer

day before yesterday

anoche

last night

ayer por la noche

last night

esta ma?ana

this morning

esta tarde

this afternoon

esta noche

tonight

el a?o pasado

last year

el lunes pasado

last Monday

el mes pasado

last month

la semana pasada

last week

el fin de semana pasado last weekend

el/la ____ pasado/a

last ...

hace diez a?os

10 years ago

hace cinco meses

5 months ago

hace siete semanas 7 weeks ago

hace tres minutos

3 minutes ago

hace (#) + (time frame) (#) + (time frame) ago

10.2 PRETERITE TENSE: REGULAR VERBS Describing what you did.

The preterite tense works the same way that we conjugate present tense, we just have to memorize and work with a different set of endings. Study the preterite endings for the three types of infinitives in Spanish.

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subject

yo

t? usted

?l, ella

nosotros

vosotros ustedes

ellos, ellas

-ar verbs

-?

aste ?

?

amos

asteis aron

aron

-er and -ir verbs

-?

iste i?

i?

imos

isteis ieron

ieron

Below are examples of the three kinds of regular verbs in the preterite tense.

Bailar - danced, did dance

Comer - ate, did eat

Salir - left, did leave, went out, did go out

bail? bailamos

com? comimos

sal? salimos

bailaste bailasteis bail? bailaron

comiste comisteis comi? comieron

saliste salisteis sali? salieron

bail? bailaron

comi? comieron

sali? salieron

The preterite translates as verb + ed or did + verb.

Anoche bailamos y bailamos.

Last night we danced and danced.

Sal? de la casa y corr? al autob?s esta ma?ana. I left the house and ran to the bus this

morning.

Note that the preterite has just two sets of endings: one for -ar verbs and the other for -er and -ir verbs.

Also note that the preterite requires a written accent on the yo and usted/?l/ella forms.

Yo no estudi? para el examen anoche. Benita corri? en el parque el domingo.

I didn't study for the test last night. Benita ran in the park on Sunday.

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The nosotros form of -ar and -ir verbs is the same in the present and the preterite. The context will help you decide which meaning is intended.

Cantamos todos los d?as. Cantamos mucho anoche en el concierto.

We sing every day. We sang a lot last night at the concert.

Vivimos en Texas ahora. Vivimos en Texas por tres a?os.

We live in Texas now. We lived in Texas for three years.

10.3 PRETERITE TENSE: IRREGULAR VERBS

There are MANY irregular verbs forms in the preterite tense. We will learn a few of the most commonly used ones. When you study Spanish further, you will learn many more.

IR - WENT, DID GO

SER - WAS, WERE

fui

fuiste fue

fue

fuimos

fuisteis fueron

fueron

fui

fuimos

fuiste

fuisteis

fue

fueron

fue

fueron

Fui con mis amigos al cine el s?bado. I went with my friends to the movies on Saturday. Fui el primero en llegar a la fiesta. I was the first to arrive at the party.

ESTAR- WAS, WERE

VER- SAW

estuve

estuvimos

vi

vimos

estuviste estuvo

estuvisteis estuvieron

viste

visteis

vio

vieron

estuvo

estuvieron

vio

vieron

Notice that irregulars in the preterite do not require accents on the yo and usted/?l/ella forms.

Estuvimos tres horas en el mercado. We were in the market for three hours. Mis amigos me vieron en el metro. My friends saw me in the subway.

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10.4 AFFIRMATIVE T? COMMANDS: REGULAR FORMS Used when Giving Directions or Ordering People to do Something

To tell someone to do something, we use commands. Spanish uses special verb endings to give affirmative commands to anyone you would address as t?.

Affirmative T? Command

-a

estudiar

-a

estudia

comer

-e

come

escribir

-e

escribe

Escribe la carta. ?Corre! Lee el libro. Limpia tu cuarto. Saca un l?piz. Llega a clase temprano.

Write the letter. Run! Read the book. Clean your room. Take out a pencil. Arrive early to class.

10.5 AFFIRMATIVE T? COMMANDS: IRREGULAR FORMS

There are eight irregular affirmative t? commands. You must memorize these commands!

Affirmative Irregular t? Commands

Infinitive

Command

decir

di

poner

pon

salir

sal

tener

ten

venir

ven

hacer

haz

ir

ve

ser

s?

Di la verdad. Pon la mesa. Sal de la clase. Ten paciencia. Ven ac? mam?. Haz tu tarea. Ve al gimnasio. S? bueno.

Tell the truth. Set the table. Leave the class. Be patient. Come here, Mom. Do your homework. Go to the gym. Be good.

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