The four PAST TENSES of Spanish


1) Pretérito Perfecto (Present Perfect) - HE, HAS > ADO and IDO

 When something has just happened - YO HE COMIDO (I have eaten)

 THEY WILL ALL END IN ADO OR IDO no matter of plural or gender!!!! - great news!
AR > ADO, ER + IR > IDO
  • SER - yo he SIDO (I have been (permanent thing))
  • ESTAR - yo he ESTADO (I have been(Temporary thing or location))
  • IR - yo he IDO (I have gone)
Has sido una camarera antes? (Have you been a waitress before?)
- Si, he sido una camarera antes (Yes, I've been a waitress before)

 This tense uses HABER with PAST PARTICIPLE
  • he
  • has
  • ha
  • hemos
  • habéis
  • han

 2) Pretérito Imperfecto (Past Continuous) - ABA, ERA and ÍA

 Uncompleted actions in the past, no definite beginning or ending - THINK OF ABBA as the group of their ERA!!!
  • SER - yo ERA (I was (permanent))
  • ESTAR - yo ESTABA (I was (temporary or location))
  • IR - yo IBA (I was going)
Estaba en Barcelona cuando oí el noticias - (I was in Barcelona when I heard the news)
Estaba comía cuando juan entró al cuarto - (I was eating when Juan came into the room)

 The Imperfecto is also used for habitual actions (used to…).
Hacía yoga todas las mañanas. - I used to do yoga every morning

Subjectir (to go)ser (to be)ver (to see)
yoibaeraveía
túibaserasveías
usted, él, ellaibaeraveía
nosotrosíbamoséramosveíamos
vosotrosibaiseraisveíais
ustedes, ellos, ellasibaneranveían



3) Pretérito Indefinido (PRETERITE Past Simple) -  fui, uve, é, í, ió, ó

 THE MOST COMMON PAST TENSE is used for past actions that are seen as completed at a definite time in the past. THINK OF GOING ON A ROLLERCOASTER - FUIIII!
  • SER - yo FUI (I was (permanent))
  • ESTAR - yo ESTUVE (I was (temporary or location))
  • IR - yo FUI (I went)

 – El año pasado fuimos de vacaciones a Portugal. ( Last summer we went on holiday to Portugal.)

Regular Preterite Forms

There are only two sets of endings for regular preterite verbs, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. Simply remove the infinitive ending and add the correct preterite ending depending on who the subject of the action is.
Subject-ar verbs-er and -ir verbs
yo-é-í
tú-aste-iste
usted, él, ella-ó-ió
nosotros-amos-imos
vosotros-asteis-isteis
ustedes, ellos, ellas-aron-ieron


Irregular Preterite

There are really only three "really irregular" verbs in the preterite tense. These are irregular in both their stems and their endings.

Subjectdar (to give)ser (to be)ir (to go)
yodifuifui
túdistefuistefuiste
usted, él, elladiofuefue
nosotrosdimosfuimosfuimos
vosotrosdisteisfuisteisfuisteis
ustedes, ellos, ellasdieronfueronfueron


We combine the imperfecto with the indefinido to tell a story.
– Hacía mucho frío cuando él llegó a casa y preparó una taza de té. (It was very cold when he arrived home and prepared a cup of tea.)

4) Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto (Past Perfect). - HABIA > ADO and IDO using PAST PARTICIPLE AGAIN

 This tense basically uses HAD the English "ed's" and "en's" like started or given.

 Habias un trabajo dado a tu! (You had one job given to you!)
  • SER - yo había SIDO (I hadbeen (permanent thing))
  • ESTAR - yo había ESTADO (I had been (Temporary thing or location))
  • IR - yo había IDO (I had gone)
The past perfect is formed by combining the auxiliary verb “had” with the past participle.

 Cuando llegué a casa, él ya se había ido. (When I arrived home, he had already gone)

 This tense uses HABER with PAST PARTICIPLE 

  • había
  • habías
  • había
  • habíamos
  • habíais
  • habían

AR > ADO
ER + IR > IDO

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