How To Conjugate Spanish Preterite Tense Verbs

The Spanish Preterite Tense is one the mostpreterite.
widely used past tenses in Spanish and as such isContar - to count
extremely important. The conjugation of Spanish- conté - I counted
preterite tense verbs, can be mastered but it can- contaste - you counted
also be extremely difficult to do so as there are- contó - he/she counted
many irregular verbs and forms.- contamos - we counted
However, irregular verbs in the preterite should- contasteis - you all counted
not be of concern until, at least, you fully- contaron - they counted
understand the basic conjugations of the preteriteVivir – to live
tense as used in Spanish verbs that follow a- viví - I lived
regular pattern of conjugation, and that is what- viviste - you lived
will be covered here.- vivió - he/she lived
You should first understand when to use the- vivimos - we lived
preterite and here is a simple explanation. The- vivisteis - you all lived
preterite is the equivalent of the English simple- vivieron - they lived
past tense. It is used to explain when somethingAprender – to learn
has happened but is then soon over. For example;- aprendí - I lived
"The man shouted".- aprendiste - you lived
It should not be confused with the Imperfect- aprendió - he/she lived
tense, the other commonly used past tense in- aprendimos - we lived
Spanish. The Imperfect is used to express- aprendisteis - you all lived
something that has happened over a long period- aprendieron - they lived
of time, or in the background, that may, or mayAs you can see above the endings attached to
not be finished. For example; "The man wasthe stem of er and ir regular verbs are the same
shouting". Here are three regular verbs, one fromand this does make the preterite easier to
each of the three verb groups, conjugated in thelearn...for regular verbs anyway!