The preterite ar endings are:

• yo: é

• tú: aste

• él/ella/usted: ó

• nosotros/nosotras: amos

• ellos/ellas/ustedes: aron

Here are the preterite tense conjugations for regular -er and -ir verbs in Spanish:

• yo - í

• tu - iste

• ud. el. ella. - ió

• nosotros - imos

• uds./ ellos. ellas. - ieron

Note that nosotros/as forms of regular -ar and -ir verbs in the preterite are identical to the present tense forms. Context will help you determine which tense is being used.

En inverno compramos ropa - In the winter, we buy clothes

-Ar and -er verbs that have a stem change in the present tense are regular in the preterite. They do not have a stem change. Only the -ir verbs stem change in the preterite.

¡Atención! -Ir verbs that have a stem change in the present tense also have a stem change in the preterite.

Verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar have a spelling change in the first person singular (yo form) in the preterite.

Except for the yo form, all other forms of the -car -gar, and -zar verbs are regular in the preterite.

Three other verbs-creer, leer, and oír-have spelling changes in the preterite. The I of the verb endings of creer, leer, and oír carries an accent in the yo, tú, nosotros/as.

Ver is regular in the preterite, but none of its forms has an accent

Ver → Vi, Viste, Vio, Vimos, Vieron (Ver = To see)

Acabar de + [infinitive] is used to say that something has just occurred. Note that acabar is in the present tense in this construction