Learn how to form the preterit in Spanish to talk about past events
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola a todo el mundo, soy Dylan. Bienvenidos a SpanishPod101.com. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? My name is Carlos - Spanish preterit, I cook food all day before we ate. Once again my name is Carlos and I am joined here by.. |
| Dylan: Dylan, mucho gusto. Hola a todos. |
| Carlos: How you doing, Dylan? |
| Dylan: Estoy muy bien, ¿y tú, Carlos? |
| Carlos: Más o menos, así, así. But you know what, I am going to be very happy to start out with this lesson because in this lesson, we are going to learn about the preterit tense. |
| Dylan: And are you ready for that? |
| Carlos: I am. |
| Dylan: Ok. So what are Lara and Santiago doing? |
| Carlos: Cooking and eating. |
| Dylan: Aren’t they lucky? So they are sharing food? |
| Carlos: Yea,, and it doesn’t seem like they are eating at a formal restaurant or anything. |
| Dylan: Well, then I think it is safe to assume that the conversation is informal. |
| Carlos: Alright, let’s listen today’s conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| LAURA: Cocinando todo el día y hasta ahora como yo. |
| SANTIAGO: Oiga, y ¿para la noche? |
| LAURA: Creo que unas costillitas. |
| SANTIAGO: Tenemos que marinarlas desde ya. |
| LAURA: ¿Quedó aceite de oliva? |
| SANTIAGO: Creo que no. Ocupamos más limones también. |
| LAURA: Bueno, terminemos de comer y empezamos con la cena. |
| LAURA: Cooking all day and only now I finally get to eat. |
| SANTIAGO: Hey now, and what about for tonight? |
| LAURA: I'm thinking about some pork ribs. |
| SANTIAGO: We've got to marinate them right away. |
| LAURA: Is there olive oil left? |
| SANTIAGO: I don't think so. We need more limes too. |
| LAURA: Okay, let's finish eating and start on the dinner. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: Oh, yes. Chicharrones, chuleta ahumada, casado con chuleta, pierna de cerdo for Christmas. Ah, so good. |
| Carlos: See, we eat a pernil for Christmas. |
| Dylan: A what? |
| Carlos: Pernil, horno de cerdo, it’s the pork shoulder. We marinate with garlic and a lot of olive oil, and then we stuff it with garlic close, and then we put it in the fridge to marinate overnight. |
| Dylan: Sounds so good. |
| Carlos: Ok, do you want to hear a little cook tip? |
| Dylan: Yes. |
| Carlos: Ok. Cook the shoulder in a turkey bag, the kind you buy for thanksgiving. |
| Dylan: Ah… |
| Carlos: It will come out so moist and crisp. Man, you don’t know what you doing. |
| Dylan: Yeah. Well, here we eat the leg for Christmas. I don’t know how to cook it cause I don’t cook it. But let’s find out about this cooking lesson. |
| Carlos: Alright. Well, then let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this today’s lesson. First up we have a verb. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Cocinar”. |
| Carlos: “To cook.” |
| Dylan: “Co-ci-nar”, “cocinar”. |
| Carlos: And then we have a feminine noun. |
| Dylan: “Costilla”. |
| Carlos: “Rib”, “cutlet.” |
| Dylan: “Cos-ti-lla”, “costilla”. |
| Carlos: And then we have a masculine noun. |
| Dylan: “Aceite”. |
| Carlos: “Oil.” |
| Dylan: “A-cei-te”, “aceite”. |
| Carlos: And then a preposition… |
| Dylan: “Desde”. |
| Carlos: “Since.” |
| Dylan: “Des-de”, “desde”. |
| Carlos: And then we have a set phrase. |
| Dylan: “Creo que”. |
| Carlos: “I think”, “I believe.” |
| Dylan: “Cre-o que”, “creo que”. |
| Carlos: Last but not least, a verb. |
| Dylan: “Comer”. |
| Carlos: “To eat.” |
| Dylan: “Co-mer”, “comer”. |
| Carlos: Ok, let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “cocinar”. |
| Carlos: Ah, one of my favorite verb and one of my favorite activities “cooking.” |
| Dylan: That’s right. But you know what, not a lot of men cook in Costa Rica. |
| Carlos: You know, I have noticed that. But you know, I’ve been on my own for ten years and you have to know more about just fry an egg, although frying an egg will get you through a lot of days. |
| Dylan: Hah. Some guys I know can’t even manage that. But Laura is experiencing something that is very common. |
| Carlos: What’s that? |
| Dylan: “Cocinando todo el día y hasta ahora como yo”. |
| Carlos: “Cooking all day and only now I finally get to eat.” You know what, I remember my aunt going through that a lot. You know, we use to eat with my cousins as a big family. And all the time she would cook this huge meal and always be the last one to sit down and eat. The poor woman didn’t eat a hot plate for about 20 years. |
| Dylan: Well, you know it is difficult cooking for an entire family. |
| Carlos: You know, but I would say it is easier than just cooking for yourself. How could we define “cocinar”, Dylan? |
| Dylan: “Guisar, aderezar los alimentos”. |
| Carlos: You know Dylan, I think a word comes to mind, a related word that is very similar. |
| Dylan: And what class? |
| Carlos: A noun, “cocina”, which means “kitchen”, and very recently I found out it also means “oven”. |
| Dylan: And when did you find that out? |
| Carlos: When I bought an oven. |
| Dylan: Ah. Makes sense... Now, if “cocinar” is one of you favorite activities, I think the next word might also be one. |
| Carlos: And what’s that? |
| Dylan: “Comer”. |
| Carlos: “To eat.” You know that, Dylan “me encanta comer comida buena”. It’s one of those pleasures in life. |
| Dylan: Yes, a pleasure. Now, we’ve already heard the example from the conversation, so let’s hear it again. |
| Carlos: “Cocinando todo el día y hasta ahora como yo”. |
| Dylan: “Cooking all day and only now I finally get to eat.” We can define “comer” as “masticar y desmenuzar el alimento en la boca y pasarlo al estómago”. |
| Carlos: Now here is something I find interesting. |
| Dylan: Yeah, what’s that? |
| Carlos: I like the fact that you have verbs for each of the meals. |
| Dylan: Right, we’ve got “desayunar”, “to eat breakfast.” |
| Carlos: “Almorzar”, “to eat lunch”. |
| Dylan: And “cenar”, “to eat dinner”. It’s almost like saying, “Let’s do breakfast, lunch and dinner”. |
| Carlos: Dylan, let’s do lunch. I just feel like Hollywood and important when I say that. |
| Dylan: Whatever you saying, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Alright, moving on… |
| Dylan: “Costilla”. |
| Carlos: My god, my mouth is watering just saying that “costilla”, a feminine noun that means.. |
| Dylan: “Rib.” |
| Carlos: “Quiero comer costillas a la barbacoa”. Dylan, do you know a good place where I can get some barbeque ribs? |
| Dylan: Fridays… or you could come over and we can have a barbeque here. |
| Carlos: That would be awesome. I will make sure to marinate those ribs like a really lot, you know, like… |
| Dylan: I guess you are not the only one thinking about that. Laura says “creo que unas costillitas”. |
| Carlos: “I’m thinking about some pork ribs.” |
| Dylan: But you know that rib isn’t only food? |
| Carlos: Of course. |
| Dylan: “Costilla” is defined “cada uno de los huesos largos y encorvados que nacen del espinazo y van hacia el pecho”. |
| Carlos: I know, I know. Adam’s rib and all that. |
| Dylan: And the related words, “hueso”, “bone”, “carne”, “flesh”, “meat” and “cerdo”. |
| Carlos: You know I got “cerdo”, “pork”. Delicious. |
| Dylan: You’re going to eat a lot after this lesson. |
| Carlos: Am I that predictable? |
| Dylan: Just a little. |
| Carlos: Ok well then, let’s finish. |
| Dylan: Patience, soon enough. |
| Carlos: What’s next then? |
| Dylan: “Aceite”. |
| Carlos: Masculine noun, “oil”. And I am heart conscious. “Yo uso poco aceite en la comida”. |
| Dylan: Well, that’s good that you use little oil when you cook. Don’t want to clog those arteries. |
| Carlos: No, no, I don’t. |
| Dylan: But olive oil is an important base of Latin cooking. |
| Carlos: Which is why I am allowed to ask “¿queda aceite de oliva?” |
| Dylan: “Is there olive oil left?” |
| Carlos: And how do we define “aceite”? |
| Dylan: “Líquido graso de color verde amarillento que se obtiene prensando las aceitunas”. |
| Carlos: You know, I do love olive oil. It is delicious. And you can use it more than other oils. I mean it’s heart healthy cholesterol. |
| Dylan: But the related words all address the bad parts. The noun “grasa”, “fat”, the verb “freír”, “to fry” and the adjective “frito”, “fried.” |
| Carlos: You know I’m full just thinking about that. Let’s move on. |
| Dylan: Now we have the preposition “desde”, which means “since”, “for”. |
| Carlos: And Santiago brings up a very important point when it comes to ribs or meats of any type really. |
| Dylan: “Tenemos que marinarlas desde ya”. |
| Carlos: “We’ve got to marinate them right away.” You know marinating is very, very important. |
| Dylan: Yes, but let’s not focus on the food but on the preposition “desde” because “desde” is defined “denota el punto en tiempo o lugar de que procede, se origina o ha de empezar a contarse una cosa, un hecho o una distancia”. |
| Carlos: Ok, so like you could ask “¿desde cuándo estás esperándome?”? |
| Dylan: Since when have you been waiting for me? |
| Carlos: Do you know what I’ve been waiting for? |
| Dylan: What’s that? |
| Carlos: Our last word. |
| Dylan: It’s actually a phrase. “Creo que”. |
| Carlos: “I think that”, “I believe that”. So if you don’t know something, you can probably say the same thing Santiago says “creo que no”. |
| Dylan: “I don’t think so.” |
| Carlos: Dylan, you know, really quickly, what’s difference does it makes between saying “creo que” and “pienso que”. |
| Dylan: “Creo que” is “I believe so” and “pienso que” is “I think so”, “creo” and “pienso”. |
| Carlos: Thanks for clearing that up. I kind of had that question in mind. But now we know that “creo que” and “pienso que” are related. Are there any other phrases? |
| Dylan: Well, we shouldn’t get away from the base of that phrase “creer” which means “to believe”. |
| Carlos: That’s true. |
| Dylan: But we could also bring up that “creo que” equals to “me parece que”. Both mean “I think”, “I believe”, “I guess”. Ok, Carlos, verbs. |
| Carlos: Verbs are the beast. You know, the pattern alludes you until one day it clicks. |
| Dylan: Has it clicked for you yet? |
| Carlos: No. Not completely, but I am getting there. |
| Dylan: Well, good, maybe you’ll have you epiphany after this lesson. |
| Carlos: So which tense are we covering today again? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Dylan: Today we are covering the preterit tense. |
| Carlos: Ah, the preterit. I do know a little something about that. |
| Dylan: Oh yeah? |
| Carlos: I remember the preterit tense expresses an action that was completely prior to present. That is the important point - completed. |
| Dylan: Hit us with an example. |
| Carlos: For example “escribió la carta”, “He or she wrote the letter”. The letter is written and thus completed. |
| Dylan: Good. Now, I’ll take care of the formation. |
| Carlos: Sounds fair. |
| Dylan: Well, let’s look at the regular verbs. To form the preterit tense for regular verbs, we first must remove the AR, ER or IR ending to get the root of the verb. |
| Carlos: Right, and then we add one of the correct preterit endings. |
| Dylan: Now here is something that makes it easier to learn. |
| Carlos: What’s that? |
| Dylan: The preterit endings for all regular ER and IR verbs are identical. |
| Carlos: That’s right. You know, that makes it easier. |
| Dylan: Let’s take a look at three verbs. |
| Carlos: Which? |
| Dylan: “Caminar”. |
| Carlos: “To walk.” |
| Dylan: “Conocer” |
| Carlos: “To know a person or place” or “to meet.” |
| Dylan: “Dormir”. |
| Carlos: “To sleep.” |
| Dylan: Ok. Since you’ve done this before, you know the drill. |
| Carlos: Oh, that I do. |
| Dylan: So Carlos, let’s start with “caminar”, “to walk”. Go ahead and conjugate “caminar” in the preterit tense. |
| Carlos: Ok. “Yo caminé”, “I walked”, “tú caminaste”, “you walked”, “él/ella/usted caminó”, “he/she/you (formal) walked”, “nosotros caminamos”, “we walked”, “vosotros caminasteis”, “you all walked” (informal), “ellos/ellas/ustedes caminaron”, “they/you (formal) walked”. |
| Dylan: Ok. Got those down audience? |
| Carlos: Well, I know I do. That took a lot. |
| Dylan: Let’s look at some example sentences using the verb “caminar” in the preterit tense. |
| Carlos: That’s your department, Dylan. |
| Dylan: Ok. “Ayer no caminé con mi amigo”. |
| Carlos: “Yesterday, I didn’t walk with my friend.” |
| Dylan: “Mi hija caminó a los ocho meses”. |
| Carlos: “My daughter walked at eight months.” |
| Dylan: “Ellas caminaron desde la playa hasta el hotel”. |
| Carlos: “They walked from the beach to the hotel.” Nice. There’s the beach being mentioned again. |
| Dylan: We are close enough. Just jump in your car after this and just go, and pick up some ribs on the way. |
| Carlos: I just might. |
| Dylan: But first we have two more verbs to conjugate. |
| Carlos: That’s true. Ok, what’s next? “Conocer”, right? |
| Dylan: Right. |
| Carlos: So “conocer” in the preterit. “Yo conocí”, “I knew, I met”, “tú conociste”, “you knew, you met”, “él/ella/usted conoció”, “he/she/you (formal) knew, met”, “nosotros conocimos”, “we knew, we met”, “vosotros conocisteis”, “you all (informal) knew, met”, “ellos/ellas/ustedes conocieron”, “they and you all (formal) knew”. You know, I do think I’m getting the hang of this, Dylan. |
| Dylan: Good, Carlos. |
| Carlos: Alright, baby steps. But you know some sentences would be great. |
| Dylan: “Ayer conocí a tu prima”. |
| Carlos: “Yesterday, I met your cousin.” |
| Dylan: “Yo no conozco Perú”. |
| Carlos: “I don’t know Peru.” Kind of meaning like “I’ve never been to Peru”, right? |
| Dylan: Exactly. “Ellos me conocieron el año pasado”. |
| Carlos: “They met me last year.” Ok, now I have the confidence to handle the last one on our list for today. One of my favorite thing in the world to do, “dormir”, “to sleep.” |
| Dylan: Get to it. |
| Carlos: “Yo dormí”, “I slept”, “tú dormiste”, “you slept”, “él/ella/usted durmió”, “he/she/you (formal) slept”, “nosotros dormimos”, “we slept”, “vosotros dormisteis”, “you all slept (informal)”, “ellos/ellas/ ustedes durmieron”, “they/you all (formal) slept”. |
| Dylan: Notice that with “él/ella/usted”, the O turn to a U making it “durmió”. |
| Carlos: Right. And I also notice that with “ellos/ellas/ustedes durmieron”. |
| Dylan: Here are some examples. “No durmió en su cama”. |
| Carlos: “He didn’t sleep in his bed.” I wonder where he slept. |
| Dylan: Anyways, “ellos se durmieron en el bus”. |
| Carlos: “They slept on the bus.” You know, I have trouble staying awake on the bus also. |
| Dylan: So we got through those. |
| Carlos: That we did. |
| Dylan: There’s a point that should be brought up. It has been brought up before but it’s very important. |
| Carlos: And what’s that? |
| Dylan: For regular AR and IR verbs, the present indicative and the preterit indicative forms are identical. For example, “Terminamos el trabajo ayer”, “We finished the job yesterday”, or “Terminamos el trabajo a las 6 de la tarde”, “We finished the job at 6 in the evening”. Now what do you see in these examples? |
| Carlos: Well, it all depends on the context. The sense of which we are to take the verbal forms all depends on that. |
| Dylan: But there are always exceptions to the rule. |
| Carlos: That’s true. So what’s this exception? |
| Dylan: ER verbs, on the other hand, do not follow this rule. |
| Carlos: ER verbs go to be rebels. |
| Dylan: Yes, Carlos, that is exactly why. |
Outro |
| Carlos: Alright, that just about does it for today. |
| Carlos: Alright, ¡nos vemos!. |
| Dylan: ¡Chao! |
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