The past: what came to an end
For yesterday and for anything finished, Spanish uses the pretérito indefinido: ayer compré un billete, el año pasado viví en Sevilla. For example: “Ayer hablé con el casero” — Yesterday I spoke with the landlord. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
For yesterday and for anything finished, Spanish uses the pretérito indefinido: ayer compré un billete, el año pasado viví en Sevilla.
There are two sets of endings, one for -ar verbs and one shared by -er and -ir. In the yo and él forms the stress jumps to the last syllable and takes a written accent: hablé, comió. Drop the accent and you have a different form.
The most awkward coincidence in the language: ser and ir share this past down to the last letter. Fui médico is 'I was a doctor'; fui al médico is 'I went to the doctor'.
In Spain this tense has a rival. Today is still open, so people say hoy he comido; yesterday is closed, so it takes ayer comí.
Table
| hablar | comer | ser / ir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí | fui |
| tú | hablaste | comiste | fuiste |
| él / ella / usted | habló | comió | fue |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos | fuimos |
| ellos / ustedes | hablaron | comieron | fueron |
By example
- Ayer hablé con el caseroYesterday I spoke with the landlord
- El mes pasado alquilamos un pisoLast month we rented a flat
- Fui al médico el viernesI went to the doctor on Friday
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
The past: how does it work in Spanish?
For yesterday and for anything finished, Spanish uses the pretérito indefinido: ayer compré un billete, el año pasado viví en Sevilla.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Ayer hablé con el casero” — Yesterday I spoke with the landlord. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.