Pretérito perfecto simple (indefinido) in Spanish

The pretérito perfecto simple is a form of the verb that is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past in Spanish. It often corresponds to the simple past in English, as in I bought a new bike (compré una bicicleta nueva).

What is the pretérito perfecto simple (simple past) in Spanish?

The simple past (Spanish: el pretérito perfecto simple) is one of the most used past tenses in Spanish. We use it to talk about:

• completed actions in the past.
• actions completed at a definite, specific moment in the past

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Regular and irregular verb conjugations

In Spanish there are regular and irregular forms.

• regular forms: follow a pattern
• irregular forms: do not follow the patterns and sometimes they change the root of the verb, the endings or both

Regular conjugation of the pretérito perfecto simple

The regular conjugation is formed by dropping the endings -ar, -er, -ir of the infinitive form and adding the following endings:

• for verbs ending in -ar with -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron
• for verbs ending in -er, with -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron
• for verbs ending in -ir, with -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron

Examples:

• Hablé con mi madre. (I spoke to my mum)
• Comimos muy tarde. (We had luch very late)
• Viví 6 años en París (I lived for 6 years in Paris)

Attention: Note, that the first and third persons singular have tilde (written accent mark). This can change the meaning and the subject of a sentence.

• With a tilde: Cantó una canción. (He/She sang a song)
• Without a tilde: Canto una canción. (I sing a song)

Irregular conjugation of the pretérito perfecto simple

Irregular conjugations need to be memorized by heard. We have different types of irregular verbs:

• Completely irregular verbs
• Verbs with spelling changes
• Stem-changing verbs

Completely irregular verbs

Here you have some examples of the most common verbs that are completely irregular:

Examples:

• No pude ir. (I couldn't go)
• Estuve enferma la semana pasada. (I was ill last week)
• Hizo un pastel de cumpleaños. (She made a birthday cake)

Verbs with spelling changes

Some changes are required because of Spanish spelling rules to keep the sound of the consonants c and g with que and gue as well as to maintain the soft sound before  i and e with c. Note that this changes apply to the yo form only.

Verbs ending in -car: c → qu

Verbs ending in -gar: g → gu

Verbs ending in -zar: z→ c

Other spelling changes i → y

In order to maintain the pronunciation of some verbs ending in -er or -ir, the 3rd person singular and 3rd person plural change i→ y Here are some examples:

Stem-changing verbs

As in the present tense, there is a pattern of stem-changes in the Spanish verb conjugations. Remember that:

• -ar verbs with stem-changes in the present tense do not have stem-changes in the past.
• -ir verbs with stem changes in the present tense also have stem changes in the past tense in two ways: e → i  and  o→u

e → i

o→u

In the verbs dormir and morir, in the 3 persons singular and 3rd person plural, the root vowel o changes to u

When to use the pretérito perfecto simple

In Spanish we use different types of past tenses to communicate different ideas. Here you have the situations where you use the pretérito perfecto simple (simple past):

Completed actions in the past

An action completed at a specific moment in the past.

• El avión aterrizó a las doce en punto. (The plane landed at four o’clock.)
• Mi hermana nació el 6 de mayo de 1994. (My sister was born on May 6th 1994.)

Continuous actions in the past 

For an action or event that lasted for a specific period of time when you can determine how long the action took place.

• Esperó dos horas en la estación. (He waited for two hours at the station).
• Habló durante una hora sin parar. (He spoke for one hour non stop)

Series of actions in the past

For series of actions or events completed in the past even if you cannot determine when these actions took place or for how long.

• Me levanté, desayuné, me duché y me fui a trabajar. (I woke up, had breakfast, took a shower and went to work.)
• Llegué, abrí la puerta y ví la fiesta sorpresa. (I arrived, opened the door and saw the suprise party.)

Actions that are not repeated

For actions that are not usually repeated using the following expressions:

Marker words of the pretérito perfecto simple

With these words we will always use the pretérito perfecto simple (simple past):

Examples sentences

• El 5 de Diciembre fue mi cumpleaños. (My birthday was the 5th of december.)
• Apareció de repente. (He suddenly showed up) 
• Ayer comí pasta. (I had pasta yesterday)

Example text

Mi primer viaje a Francia me llevó a París, donde estuve tres semanas. En el aeropuerto nos esperó la guía Vanessa que nos llevó a nuestro apartamento. Primero pasamos unos días en el norte de la ciudad. Allí hicimos un tour por Montmartre, el barrio de los artistas, ubicado en una colina. Allí estuvimos cuatro días.

Translation

My first trip to France took me to Paris, where I stayed for three weeks. At the airport we were greeted by Vanessa, the guide who took us to our apartment. First we spent a few days in the north of the city. There, we did a tour of Montmartre, the neighborhood of the artists, located on a hill. We stayed there for four days.