Preterit Tense
Vocabulary
contar - to count
perder - to lose
reunir - to gather
buscar - to look for
explicar - to explain
sacar - to take out
pescar - to fish
jugar - to play
negar - to deny
castigar - to punish
agregar - to add
lanzar - to throw
abrazar - to embrace
almorzar - to eat lunch
comenzar - to begin
convertir - to convert
servir - to serve
andar - to walk (to go)
poder - to be able to
querer - to want
producir - to produce
traer - to bring
dar - to give
conducir - to lead
traducir - to translate
The preterit tense is one of the past tenses used in Spanish (the other is the imperfect tense). This tense also distinguishes between "AR", "ER", and "IR" verbs (though "ER" and "IR" verbs are conjugated in the same way). Here are the basics to the preterit tense.
| contar | perder | reunir | |
| (yo) | conté | perdí | reuní |
| (tú) | contaste | perdiste | reuniste |
| (él/ella/Vd.) | contó | perdió | reunió |
| (nosotros) | contamos | perdimos | reunimos |
| (vosotros) | contasteis | perdisteis | reunisteis |
| (ellos/Vds.) | contaron | perdieron | reunieron |
We are now conjugating in the past. Conto (present tense) means I count, conté means I counted. We do the same thing as the present tense, remove the ending of a verb and insert the conjugated part of the preterit tense. The rest of the conjugations are: contaste - you counted, contó - he/she/it counted, contamos - we counted, contasteis - you guys counted, and contaron - they counted.
Questions
1) What does reunió mean?
2) What is the conjugation of curtir in the yo form (preterit tense)?
Check out these links to learn about advanced preterit tense information.
Preterit Tense advanced lesson
Differences between Preterit and Imperfect
Mastery questions for Preterit and Imperfect