Simple Past in Spanish
The name of this tense in Spanish is: "pretérito perfecto simple"
Conjugation
As you probably know, Spanish has 3 types of verbs ("-ar", "-er" and "-ir" verbs) with different conjugation. But in the simple past there is no difference between the second and third conjugation (the endings are the same).
First Conjugation "-ar"
First, we will see the conjugation of the "ar" verbs:
saltar (to jump)
| First conjugation [stem] + "-ar" | Meaning |
|---|---|
| yo salté | I jumped |
| tú saltaste | you jumped |
| él saltó | he jumped |
| nosotros saltamos | we jumped |
| vosotros saltasteis | you jumped |
| ellos saltaron | they jumped |
Second Conjugation "-er"
Next, we study the conjugation of the "er" verbs:
beber (to drink)
| First conjugation [stem] + "-er" | Meaning |
|---|---|
| yo bebí | I drank |
| tú bebiste | you drank |
| él bebió | he drank |
| nosotros bebimos | we drank |
| vosotros bebisteis | you drank |
| ellos bebieron | they drank |
Third Conjugation "-ir"
And finally the "ir" verbs:
vivir (to live)
| First conjugation [stem] + "-ir" | Meaning |
|---|---|
| yo viví | I lived |
| tú viviste | you lived |
| él vivió | he lived |
| nosotros vivimos | we lived |
| vosotros vivisteis | you lived |
| ellos vivieron | they lived |
Summary of 'simple-past tense' endings
Remember: the second and the third conjugation have the same conjugation for the simple past.
| Pronoun | first conjugation [stem] + "-ar" | second conjugation [stem] + "-er" | third conjugation [stem] + "-ir" |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -é | -í | |
| tú | -aste | -iste | |
| él | -ó | -ió | |
| nosotros | -amos | -imos | |
| vosotros | -asteis | -isteis | |
| ellos | -aron | -ieron | |
Uses of the simple past
- It is used for actions that did NOT take place regularly at a particular time in the past. It is widely used in stories and biographical works, where sequences of events in the past.
Él escribió una carta, la metió en un sobre, y la envió por correo
He wrote a letter, put it in an envelope and mailed itMás tarde salió de casa y se dirigió a la cafeteria de enfrente. Pidió un café y se comió un bizcocho
Later, he left home and went to the cafeteria across the street. He ordered a coffee and ate a cake
Differences between the simple past and the imperfect
The imperfect consists of actions that were habitual, done every Saturday, every month, every two days were... over a period of time in the past.
On the other hand, the simple past is for specific actions that did NOT happen regularly in the past.
Examples of simple past:
Yo viví en Stuttgart durante dos años
I lived in Stuttgar for two years
Estando en Nueva York, me compré un coche
Being in New York, I bought a car
El viernes de la semana pasada comí con Loli
On Friday last week I ate with Loli
Examples of Imperfect:
Cuando vivía en Stuttgart, salía a caminar cada mañana
When I lived in Stuttgart, I went for a walk every morning
Estando en Nueva York, paseaba en mi coche todas las tardes
While in New York, I took a drive in my care every afternoon
Antes me iba cada viernes a comer con Luis
Before, I went out to eat with Luis every Friday
The question with the simple past
When we ask a question, generally, we switch the position of the verb to that of the personal pronoun.
| Affirmation | Interrogation |
|---|---|
| tú bebiste you drank | ¿bebiste (tú)? did you drink? |
| ella saltó she jumped | ¿saltó (ella)? did she jump? |
Negation of the simple past
To make the negative form, simply put the word "no" before the verb, or, in other words, to the left of the verb.
| Affirmation | Negation |
|---|---|
| yo viajé I traveled | yo no viajé I didn't travel |
| él durmió he slept | él no durmió he didn't sleep |
In Spanish, if we know the personal pronoun in advance, it´s omitted in most cases, because it is implicit in the verb tense used to speak.
You can see more information about omitting the personal pronoun in the following link: Personal pronouns (Pronombres personales)