Wednesday 21 December 2011

Learning the past spanish verbs



It isn't too long after starting to learn Spanish verb conjugation that the student encounters the Spanish past tenses. These Spanish past tenses are called the preterite and the imperfect and both are widely used along with being therefore extremely important to fully understand when to use each tense and how each is formed.
You can find irregular Spanish verbs with both past tenses (surprise, surprise!), not many in the imperfect, but the preterite does contain an array of irregular conjugations of all the tenses, so be aware.
We will now take a look at each of these previous tenses, explaining when they can be used, regular formation for every single verb groups and irregular verb variations.
The Imperfect Past Tense in Spanish
The imperfect tense is utilized to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly which include,
I used to walk home daily - Caminaba cada d??a
It is also used to refer to actions in earlier times that happened over a protracted period.
I used you eat paella frequently - Com??a frecuentemente paella
And for "setting the stage" to get a past event.
We were coming home once we saw Juan - Ven??amos para casa cuando vimos a Juan
Non physical actions like feelings and thoughts will likewise usually use the imperfect tight,
Juan was feeling sick - Juan estaba enfermo
In Spanish you can find two sets of regular verb endings for the imperfect tense, one is utilized for verbs ending in -ar and the other for verbs finishing in -er and -ir, these endings rarely change even though used with irregular verbs and tend to be as follows;
Enviar (to help send)
yo envi -aba (I was sending)
t?? envi -abas (were you to sending)
el/ella envi -aba (he/she has been sending)
nosotros envi -??bamos (we were sending)
vosotros envi -abais (were you to sending)
ellos/ellas envi -aban (they were sending)
Tener (to have)
yo ten -??a (I was having)
t?? ten -??as (you had been having)
el/ella ten -??a (he/she had been having)
nosotros ten -??amos (we were having)
vosotros ten -??ais (were you to having)
ellos/ellas ten -??an (they were having)
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Decir (to say)
yo dec -??a (We was saying)
t?? dec -??as (were you to saying)
el/ella dec -??a (he/she was saying)
nosotros december -??amos (we were saying)
vosotros dec -??ais (you were saying)
ellos/ellas dec -??an (we were looking at saying)
There are two exceptions on the regular pattern of the imperfect tense and they are the important verbs 'ser' (to remain) and 'ir' (to go) which will both ought to be thoroughly studied and they're just conjugated as shown following;
Ser (to get)
yo er -a (As i was)
t?? er -as (you were)
el/ella er -a (he/she has been)
nosotros ??r -amos (we were)
vosotros er -ais (you were)
ellos/ellas er -an (we were looking at)
Ir (to go)
yo ib -a (As i was going)
t?? ib -as (you were going)
el/ella ib -a (he/she has been going)
nosotros ??b -amos (people were going)
vosotros ib -ais (you were going)
ellos/ellas ib -an (they were going)
The Preterite Previous Tense in Spanish
The preterite tense is utilized frequently and is useful to describe past actions which can be seen to be completed. As with the Imperfect tense the stem in the verb is used while using the tense endings and, much like the imperfect, there are generally two sets of endings, one for -ar verbs along with the other for -ir and -er verbs.
Enviar (to help send)
yo envi -?? (We sent)
t?? envi -aste (you sent)
el/ella envi -?? (he/she dispatched)
nosotros envi -amos (people sent)
vosotros envi -asteis (you sent)
ellos/ellas envi -aron (these people sent)
Coger (to look at)
yo cog -?? (My partner and i took)
t?? cog -iste (people took)
el/ella cog -i?? (he/she needed)
nosotros cog -imos (people took)
vosotros cog -isteis (you took)
ellos/ellas cog -ieron (people took)
Salir (to leave)
yo sal -?? (I left)
t?? sal -iste (you left)
el/ella sal -i?? (he/she departed)
nosotros sal -imos (people left)
vosotros sal -isteis (people left)
ellos/ellas sal -ieron (they will left)
Unlike the imperfect tense web site of verbs that have irregularities in the formation of the preterite tense and list them all along with their many differences would be too large a job for this informative article.
The most commonly applied irregular past tense verbs inside preterite tense are;
estar (being),
dar (to allow),
haber (to own),
tener (to own),
poner (to position),
hacer (to undertake, make),
poder (to be able to, can),
querer (to want),
ser (to become),
decir (to speak about)
ir (to go)
All of which might be very different and will each need learning independently unfortunately!

2 comments:

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