Last Updated on June 16, 2026 by I Love Spanish Club
The simple past in Spanish, known as pretérito indefinido (or pretérito perfecto simple), is used to describe completed actions that occurred at a specific point in the past. These actions have a clear beginning and end, making it different from other past tenses like the pretérito imperfecto, which describes ongoing or habitual actions. In this complete guide you’ll find conjugation tables, irregular verbs, time expressions, real conversation examples, and practice exercises. ¡Empecemos!
⏮️ When to Use the Simple Past
The pretérito indefinido is used to:
✅ Talk about finished actions with no connection to the present
✅ Describe events that occurred at a specific time in the past
✅ Narrate sequences of completed actions
| Ayer fui al cine. | Yesterday I went to the cinema. |
| Ella estudió toda la noche. | She studied all night. |
| El año pasado viajamos a México. | Last year we traveled to Mexico. |
📋 Regular Verb Conjugation
-AR Verbs: hablar (to speak)
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | hablé |
| Tú | hablaste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | habló |
| Nosotros/as | hablamos |
| Vosotros/as | hablasteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | hablaron |
💡 Pattern tip for -AR: The key endings are -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. Note the accent on yo (hablé) and él/ella (habló) — these are essential!
-ER Verbs: comer (to eat)
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | comí |
| Tú | comiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | comió |
| Nosotros/as | comimos |
| Vosotros/as | comisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | comieron |
-IR Verbs: vivir (to live)
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | viví |
| Tú | viviste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | vivió |
| Nosotros/as | vivimos |
| Vosotros/as | vivisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | vivieron |
💡 Good news: -ER and -IR verbs share the same endings in the preterite! Only -AR verbs have different endings.
⚠️ Irregular Verbs in the Simple Past
Ser / Ir — they share the same conjugation!
| Pronoun | Ser/Ir |
|---|---|
| Yo | fui |
| Tú | fuiste |
| Él/Ella/Usted | fue |
| Nosotros/as | fuimos |
| Vosotros/as | fuisteis |
| Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes | fueron |
💡 Tip: Context tells you which verb it is! Ayer fui al parque = ir. El concierto fue increíble = ser.
Other Common Irregular Verbs
| Verb | Yo | Tú | Él/Ella | Nosotros | Ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tener | tuve | tuviste | tuvo | tuvimos | tuvieron |
| hacer | hice | hiciste | hizo | hicimos | hicieron |
| decir | dije | dijiste | dijo | dijimos | dijeron |
| poner | puse | pusiste | puso | pusimos | pusieron |
| venir | vine | viniste | vino | vinimos | vinieron |
| estar | estuve | estuviste | estuvo | estuvimos | estuvieron |
| poder | pude | pudiste | pudo | pudimos | pudieron |
📅 Time Expressions with the Simple Past
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ayer | Yesterday | Ayer hablé con mi jefe. |
| La semana pasada | Last week | La semana pasada fuimos a la playa. |
| El año pasado | Last year | El año pasado viajé a Japón. |
| Hace + tiempo | Ago | Hace dos días vi a mi amigo. |
| El lunes / El martes… | On Monday / Tuesday… | El lunes llegué tarde. |
| En + year | In (year) | En 2020 todo cambió. |
| De repente | Suddenly | De repente empezó a llover. |
🆚 Simple Past vs Imperfect — Key Difference
| Pretérito Indefinido | Pretérito Imperfecto |
|---|---|
| Completed, specific action | Ongoing, habitual, or background action |
| Ayer comí en ese restaurante. (Yesterday I ate at that restaurant — once, done.) | Cuando era niño, comía allí todos los domingos. (When I was a child, I used to eat there every Sunday.) |
| Ayer estudié dos horas. (Yesterday I studied for 2 hours — finished.) | Estudiaba cuando llegó mi amigo. (I was studying when my friend arrived — ongoing background.) |
💬 Real Conversation Examples
📍 Talking about the weekend
Ana: ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?
What did you do this weekend?
Luis: El sábado fui al cine con mi familia y el domingo me quedé en casa.
On Saturday I went to the cinema with my family and on Sunday I stayed home.
Ana: ¿Qué película viste?
What movie did you see?
Luis: Vi una comedia. ¡Me reí mucho! ¿Y tú, saliste?
I saw a comedy. I laughed a lot! And you, did you go out?
Ana: Sí, el sábado comí con mis amigas y luego fuimos a caminar por el parque.
Yes, on Saturday I had lunch with my friends and then we went for a walk in the park.
Talking about what you did last weekend, last year, or on a trip is one of the most natural conversation topics in Spanish — and it’s entirely in the preterite. A native tutor on Italki can do a full “what did you do this week?” conversation with you, giving you real-time corrections on your preterite forms until they feel completely natural.
⚠️ Common Mistakes English Speakers Make
❌ Forgetting accent marks
The accents on hablé (yo) and habló (él/ella) are essential — without them the meaning changes completely. Hable is a subjunctive form; hablo is present tense. Never skip the accent!
❌ Mixing up hice/hizo
Hice = I did (yo). Hizo = he/she did (él/ella). The spelling change (c→z) happens only in the él/ella form to preserve the “s” sound. Yo hice, él hizo — not yo hizo!
❌ Using imperfect when you should use preterite
If the action happened once and is clearly finished → preterite. Ayer comí pizza (Yesterday I ate pizza — done). Save the imperfect for background descriptions, habits, and ongoing states.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Why do ser and ir have the same conjugation in the preterite?
This is just a historical coincidence — the two verbs evolved to share identical preterite forms. Context always makes it clear which one is meant: fui al mercado (ir — I went to the market) vs fue un desastre (ser — it was a disaster).
What’s the difference between “hace” + time and “hacía” + time?
Hace dos años viví en Madrid (I lived in Madrid two years ago — preterite, completed) vs Hacía dos años que vivía en Madrid (I had been living in Madrid for two years — imperfect, ongoing past state). The first is a finished event; the second is a duration that was ongoing at some past moment.
How can I memorize irregular preterite verbs?
Group them by pattern: tuve/estuve/pude/puse/vine all follow the same irregular stem + endings (-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron). Once you know the pattern, learning new verbs in the group is much faster. Hearing them constantly in stories and telenovelas on LingoPie is the fastest way to make them feel automatic — narrative past tense is the backbone of storytelling in Spanish.
📚 Keep Learning
Let´s practice
- Write the correct form of the verb in the preterite tense
2. Select the correct form of the verb
3. Match verbs with their correct conjugation
4. Transforming the present into the past
5. Incomplete stories, you must complete the gaps with the correct form of the verb in the preterite tense.
6. Several sentences that describe a sequence of events in disorder. You must arrange the sentences in the correct order.
7. You will read a sentence and you will have to determine if the conjugation in the preterite tense is correct or incorrect.