ivy-101-preterite

The Preterite Past

The verb forms that we have studied up to this point can be divided into three parts. Now we are going to look at a verb form which doesn't fit this pattern. Some people who study the evolution of Latin into Spanish have suggested that this form has survived in its present form because of the Bible. What we are talking about is a form which expresses an event that took place one time at a specific moment in the past. Spoken words are heard for a moment, then evaporate in the air. If someone misunderstands, mistakes can get repeated and pass from one generation to another. The written word remains on the page and doesn't change. When people went to church and heard readings from the Bible, this particular form was continuously being reinforced. It did evolve somewhat in the pronunciation, but it didn't really modernize the way that other forms did into the three part division pattern that we see with other verb forms.

If you think about it for a minute, it makes sense. In the Bible we hear of a series of events that took place, one time at a particular moment in the past. For example, the serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, Moses raised his staff and the waters of the sea parted, etc. We can follow the stories of the Bible and we hear a recitation of specific events taking place once at a particular moment.

Now let's think about how we can fit everyday events into this pattern. There are actually two forms of the past in Spanish. One indicates that an event continued happening for a period of time or was repeated. This is called the "imperfect" past. In Latin, the word "imperfect" doesn't mean that there is a defect or something is wrong. It means the "unfinished" past event. The other past form in Spanish is what we call the "preterite". It indicates that an event took place at some point in the past. Let's look at some examples in English to see what we mean.

John used to sell cars.

In this case, are we speaking of a one time event or something that continued, or was repeated over a period of time? We can see that this isn't a single one time event at a point of time, and then it was done. He was selling cars over a period of time. We aren't pointing to a particular moment and saying that at that point something different happened which wasn't happening before, or it stopped happening at that point. As a matter of fact, we aren't really specifying a point in time.

Let's look at another example.

John was selling cars.

Again, we are seeing something which continued happening for a while and we can't point out a particular moment when something different happened that wasn't happening before.

When we say that something "used to happen" or it "was happening" we would use the "imperfect" past in Spanish. But now let's look at another way of expressing the past in English.

John sold cars.

Notice that here we use "sold" with the same meaning as "was selling" or "used to sell". We could say, "When John worked at the Ford dealership he sold cars". In other words, he continued selling cars for a period of time.

Now let's take another look at the form "sold".

John sold the car.

In this case it is obvious that we are speaking of a one time event and we can focus in on a particular moment. We could pin down a specific moment, when the money was exchanged or when they signed the bill of sale. This is the idea that we express with the "preterite". For most verbs in English we simply add "-ed" to the end of the verb for the past. In many cases, however, English uses unpredictable irregular forms for the past. The form "sold" would be an example of this. Actually, "sold" really means "selled" (although, of course, we don't actually say it that way). What's important to remember is that in English, the simple past can be interpreted to mean "used to do" or "was doing", but also it can mean a single one time event that took place at a particular moment in the past. This is what we want to focus on now.

Let's see another example of a contrast between the "imperfect" past and the "preterite" past in Spanish. First, let's assume that I have an ongoing medical problem such as asthma, diabetes, etc. Let's say there is a new drug store which has better prices which has just opened. A friend sees me in the new drug store and might ask me, "where did you buy the medicine before?" He could have asked, "where did you used to buy the medicine?" or "where were you buying it before?" In any of these cases, he would be asking me about a continuing or repeated action in the past. In this case I would use the "imperfect" past in Spanish (the middle of the verb would change "a" to "aba"). On the other hand, we could have a different situation. Let's say that last night I got a headache. I went to the drug store and bought a bottle of aspirin. One trip to the drug store, at a particular point in time (last night). In this case, if he asked me, "where did you buy the medicine?", he would not mean, "where did you used to buy?" I would say, "I bought the medicine", not meaning "I used to buy" or (back then) "I was buying", but rather, at a point in time (last night) I made a one time trip to the drug store and I bought (one time) the medicine.

Here are the forms that we use in the Spanish "preterite" forms to express one time events that took place at a particular moment in the past. Notice that instead of dividing the verb into three parts, we only have two parts, the stem and the ending. For now, we are going to focus on "A" category verbs.

**PRETERITE**
I spoke	yo hablé
you spoke	tú hablaste
he/she spoke	él/ella habló
we spoke	nosotros hablamos
they spoke	ellos/ellas hablaron

One point that it's important to notice. The preterite past form for "nosotros" looks and is pronounced exactly the same way that the present form would be. For example, "nosotros hablamos" could mean "we are speaking" or "we spoke". We would have to get the exact meaning from the context in which it is used in the sentence.

Let's break the forms down into stem and ending so that we can see a little more clearly how this form is constructed.

habl	é
habl	aste
habl	ó
habl	amos
habl	aron

Now let's practice building some sentences in which we use the "preterite" past form of the verb to express a one time event at a particular point of time in the past.

I bought a gift (un regalo) for my friend.
Did you buy a gift for your friend?
Mary bought a gift for her friend.
We bought a gift for our friend.
The boys bought a gift for their friend.
I spoke with the lawyer (el abogado) yesterday.
Did you speak with the lawyer yesterday?
John spoke with the lawyer yesterday.
The witnesses (los testigos) spoke with the lawyer yesterday.
I took the medicine.
Did you take the medicine?
Mary took the medicine.
We took the medicine.
The girls took the medicine.
I took (llevar) the letter to the office.
Did you take the letter to the office?
John took the letter to the office.
We took the letter to the office.
The boys took the letter to the office.
I prepared (preparar) the lunch (el almuerzo).
Did you prepare the lunch?
Mary prepared the lunch.
We prepared the lunch.
The girls prepared the lunch.
I washed (lavar) the clothing (la ropa).
Did you wash the clothing?
John washed the clothing.
We washed the clothing.
The boys washed the clothing.

There are times when we will have a spelling change in these "preterite" past forms. For example, if the verb ends in "-gar", we will have a spelling change in the "yo" form of the "preterite". This is because the letter "g" normally has a hard sound, like "go" in English. However, when "g" is followed by either "i" or "e", it has the "soft" sound, like the English letter "h". We want to avoid the sound change, so in Spanish, to keep the "g" hard like "go" when it is followed by "e", we add a silent letter "u" after the "g". By "silent" I mean that we don't actually pronounce it, like "oo" as in "school". It's just a signal to keep the "g" from changing to the "h" sound.

Let's practice some preterite past forms using verbs which end in "-gar".
I arrived (llegar) before (antes de) five óclock.
Did you arrive before five óclock?
John arrived before five óclock.
We arrived before five óclock.
The boys arrived before five óclock.
I paid (pagar) five dollars.
How much (cuánto) did you pay?
Mary paid five dollars.
We paid five dollars.
The girls paid five dollars.
I delivered (entregar) the package (el paquete) to him.
Did you deliver the package to him?
John delivered the package to him.
We delivered the package to him.
The boys delivered the package to him.

Another case where we can have a spelling change is with verbs that end in "-car". Remember that the letter "c" normally has the sound of "k". However, if the "c" is followed by either "i" or "e", in Latin America it is pronounced like "s" (in most parts of Spain, it will be pronounced like "th"). We want to avoid this pronunciation change when we change forms within one verb. To avoid the "s" sound and preserve the "k" sound when followed by "e", we change the "c" to "qu".
I explained (explicar) the words.
Did you explain the words?
The teacher explained the words.
We explained the words.
The students (alumnos) explained the words.
I played (tocar) the guitar (guitarra).
Did you play the guitar.
John played the guitar.
We played the guitar.
The boys played the guitar.
I took (sacar) a photo (foto).
Did you take a photo?
Mary took a photo.
We took a photo.
The girls took a photo.

Now let's go back to some more plain old regular verbs, just to get some more practice. We can toss in some more new vocabulary to learn also.
I painted (pintar) the walls (las paredes).
¿ Did you paint the walls?
John painted the walls.
We painted the walls.
The boys painted the walls.
I cleaned (limpiar) the kitchen (la cocina).
Did you clean the kitchen?
Mary cleaned the kitchen.
We cleaned the kitchen.
The girls cleaned the kitchen.
I closed (cerrar) the window (la ventana).
Did you close the window?
John closed the window.
We closed the window.
The boys closed the window.
I cashed (cambiar) a check (un cheque) at the bank (en el banco).
Did you cash a check at the bank?
Mary cashed a check at the bank.
We cashed a check at the bank.
The girls cashed a check at the bank.
I studied the lesson (la lección).
Did you study the lesson?
John studied the lesson.
We studied the lesson.
The boys studied the lesson.
I listened (escuchar) to the music (la música).
Did you listen to the music?
Mary listened to the music.
We listened to the music.
The girls listened to the music.
I answered (contestar) the question (la pregunta).
Did you answer the question?
John answered the question.
We answered the question.
The boys answered the question.
I visited (visitar) my grandmother (a mi abuela).
Did you visit your grandmother?
Mary visited her grandmother.
We visited our grandmother.
The girls visited their grandmother.
I forgot (olvidar) the telephone number (el número de teléfono).
Did you forget the telephone number?
John forgot the telephone number.
We forgot the telephone number.
The boys forgot the telephone number.

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