Talking about the Past: Regular Verbs in the Preterite Indicative

Remember that the the preterite describes completed actions in the past.

Here are the three model verbs completely conjugated in the preterite indicative tense.

Remember, they are models and the same endings can be used with any regular -ar, -er or -ir verb.

Remember to follow these steps to conjugate correctly:

  • 1. Identify the infinitive.
    2. Determine whether it's an -ar, -er or -ir verb.
    3. Obtain the stem by deleting the -ar, -er or -ir ending.
    4. Add the following endings on to the stem:

HABLARCOMERVIVIR
yohablécomíviví
túhablastevivistecomiste
él/ella, Ud.hablócomíovivío
nosotros/nosotras      hablamos      comimos      vivimos     
vosotros/vosotrashablsteiscomisteisvivisteis
ellos/ellas, Uds.hablaroncomieronvivieron

Yes, you've noticed right!

The preterite indicative endings are the same as the present indicative endings for the nosotros forms of the -ar and -ir verbs.

And:

The preterite endings are the same for all regular -er and -ir verbs.
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