Preterite Tense

El Tiempo Pretérito

This lesson requires a Polly Passport subscription

Get complete access to all premium lessons, for all languages and courses, plus other advanced features, when you buy a Polly Passport subscription.

Buy a Polly Passport More Information

Introduction

Introducción

Also known as the simple past tense, the Spanish preterite tense describes actions that took place in the past and were completed in the past.

It is often confused with the imperfect tense, which describes on going, past events.

The examples below illustrate the difference with the verb comer (to eat):

Preterite
Él comió
He ate.

Imperfect
Él comia.
He was eating.

Vocabulary

Vocabulario

Play hablar
to talk to speak
Play saber
to know
Play comer
to eat
Play escribir
to write

This is only a preview of the lesson.

Get complete access with a Polly Passport.

Buy a Polly Passport More Information

Ask the Polly Ambassadors a question

Haz una pregunta a los Embajadores Polly

Have questions about this lesson? Get a video answer from a Polly Ambassador, if your question is relevant and interesting.

Change language Flag fr French Flag en English Flag it Italian Flag de German Flag pt Portuguese