Past Tense in Spanish: All you Need to Know

If we translate Chef Gusteau’s phrase from Pixar Ratatouille’s film to the terms of learning a new language, we would say: just as anyone can cook, anyone can learn Spanish. 

But if we were to transfer it to the Star Wars language, some are already Jedi and those who are just Padawans.

If you are a Spanish language Padawan, but you want to become a Jedi, one of the fundamental teachings to advance on that path is learning the time spent in Spanish.

To help you reach your goal, we will tell you everything you need to know about time spent in Spanish.

What is the past or pretérito in Spanish? 

The past is the verbal tense we use to refer to actions or events before the present.

In other words, it indicates that the action meant by the verb has already happened, has already ended, or is before the moment when it is spoken.

To begin with, we have four ways of referring to the past in Spanish: the pretérito imperfecto, the pretérito indefinido, the pretérito perfecto, and the pretérito pluscuamperfecto.

Past times in Spanish 

Fuente: EFE

The table above describes the four uses of the past tense in Spanish and the endings we must use in regular verbs whose infinitive forms end in AR, ER, IR. 

We also describe the compound tenses, which are the pretérito perfecto and the pretérito pluscuamperfecto, which are accompanied by the auxiliary verb “haber,” which is the one that must be conjugated plus a verb in the participle.

Keep that table because it can be useful in case you get lost in the future. 

Now that you know this information let’s see when each verb tense is used and how you can build it and construct a sentence with it. 

What is the simple past or pretérito indefinido? 

The simple past is used in Spanish to express past actions that we are certain ended at a particular time (yesterday, the other day, in 1991, last year)

Example: 

• Ayer jugué fútbol

It also describes events that had a specific duration.

Example:

• Ella trabajó en el periódico durante 5 años.

Conjugation simple past or pretérito indefinido

Some verbs that do not follow these rules of conjugation are: estar, traer, construir, pedir. 

What is the pretérito imperfecto o copretérito used for? 

The pretérito imperfecto o copretérito describes an action or state in the past whose time limits are not relevant or are not accurate or exact.

This verb tense is also used to describe past habits, such as things you used to do before. 

Example: 

• Cuando era niño compraba muchos dulces. 

It is also used to express actions that coincided in the past. 

Examples:

•  Yo estudiaba mientras mis hermanos dormían.
•  Yo ya estaba desempleado cuando inició la pandemia

Conjugation the pretérito imperfecto o copretérito

The same ending is always used for the conjugation of regular verbs. 

With irregular verbs, the conjugation is very different and will depend on each verb. Here are some examples.

Examples of sentences in pretérito imperfecto with irregular verbs 

• Yo iba a la secundaria con tu hermano.
• Él era muy travieso cuando era niño.
• Los niños veíamos caricaturas mientras los adultos trabajaban .

When is the pretérito perfecto used? 

The pretérito perfecto is used to indicate that an action, started in the past, lasts until the present or has consequences at present, according to the Colegio de México.

Example:

• Este año ha llovido mucho.
• Ha tenido que ver al médico todo el año.
• Hemos tenido que tolerar tus maltratos.

Conjugation pretérito perfecto

The conjugation of this verb tense is quite simple; you just have to know how to conjugate the verb haber in the present tense of the indicative and add the main verb’s participle.

But before following …

What is the participle? 

It is a non-personal form of the verbs used to form the compound tenses of the conjugation.

It is almost always formed by adding -ado or -ido to the verbs’ root (amado, temido, partido), but there are also irregular participles (abierto, dicho, escrito). 

Conjugation the past perfect

The verb to be conjugated is always “haber.” 

Haber in the present tense of the indicative + verb in the participle

Haber + amar

Example: 

• He amado 

More examples: 

• Has vivido más que mi padre
• La mujer ya ha hablado con su esposo
• Ha temblado mucho este año

What is the pretérito pluscuamperfecto used for?

In Mexico and Latin America, this verb tense is also called Antecopretérito, and we are going to use it to describe past actions that have already happened. 

Example:

• Habíamos estudiado antes del examen.
• Ya había lavado los trastes cuando llegaste.

Conjugation pretérito pluscuamperfecto

The conjugation of this verb tense is also very easy. 

It is formed with the conjugation of the verb haber in past imperfect or copreterite plus the main verb in participle. 

haber in copretérito + main verb in participle

Example: 

• había amado

More examples: 

• Yo había dejado aquí mi pluma cuando me fui.
• Nuestros padres  habían hablado con nosotros antes de que nos expulsaran.
• No había comido cuando llegaron. 

Are you ready to be a Jedi in the past tense in Spanish now?

You may want to read: Season in Spanish (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)

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