Spanish/Tenses/Indicative/Simple/Preterite

-AR -ER / -IR
conjugation example translation conjugation example translation
-AR hablar to speak -ER / -IR comer to eat
Yo stem+é hablé I spoke stem+í comí I ate
stem+aste hablaste You spoke stem+iste comiste You ate
Él stem+ó habló He spoke stem+ió comió He ate
Nosotros stem+amos hablamos We spoke stem+imos comimos We ate
Vosotros stem+asteis hablasteis You all spoke stem+isteis comisteis You all ate
Ellos stem+aron hablaron They spoke stem+ieron comieron They ate

Some things to note:

  1. Most significantly, the -ER and -IR verbs have exactly the same endings. This makes learning the preterite simpler.
  2. The nosotros forms of the -AR and -IR verbs appear exactly the same as they do in the present. You must figure out their meaning based on context.
  3. Accent marks are essential. Hablo and Habló are completely different; an accent mark makes the difference between "I speak" and "he spoke."