Pretérito Indefinido for -er verbs

Lesson: Pretérito Indefinido for -er verbs

The Pretérito Indefinido is a commonly used past tense in Spanish. It describes actions that were completed in the past and have no direct connection to the present. Think of sentences like "I ate there last night."

In this lesson, we focus on the conjugations of regular -er verbs, such as comer (to eat).

Conjugations of -er Verbs in the Pretérito Indefinido

For regular -er verbs, replace the infinitive ending (-er) with the following endings. These endings are the same for all regular -er verbs.

Usage Examples

1. Yo comí una pizza anoche.
   (I ate a pizza last night.)
2. Tú comiste en ese restaurante.
   (You ate in that restaurant.)
3. Ella comió muy rápido.
   (She ate very quickly.)
4. Nosotros comimos juntos en la playa.
   (We ate together at the beach.)
5. Vosotros comisteis paella en Valencia.
   (You all ate paella in Valencia.)
6. Ellos comieron demasiado pastel.
   (They ate too much cake.)

Key Tips

1. Pay attention to the difference between the present tense and the Pretérito Indefinido.

   • Comemos can mean "We eat" (present tense) or "We ate" (past tense). The context will clarify the meaning.

2. Stress: In the Pretérito Indefinido, the stress is always on the ending in the 1st person singular (-í) and the 3rd person singular (-ió).