Learn how to tell the difference between the Spanish preterit tense and the Spanish present tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Hola, hola a todos. Habla Dylan, ¿cómo están? |
| Carlos: What’s going on pod101 world? My name is Carlos. |
| Dylan: In this lesson, you will learn about the preterit tense regular. |
| Carlos: This conversation takes place in a bookstore. |
| Dylan: The conversation is between Ana, Andrea and Andrés. |
| Carlos: The speakers are strangers, so they will be speaking formally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ana: Eso es verdad, nosotros estamos buscando una profesora de español para Andrés. |
| Andrés: Sí, necesito clases. Por favor, ayúdeme. |
| Andrea: Pero yo ya estoy retirada. |
| Ana: Usted es muy amable. Eso es lo que busca Andrés, una persona amable y paciente. |
| Andrés: Ana dice la verdad, necesito una persona con mucha paciencia. Y creo que no habrá una profesora como usted, doña Andrea. |
| Andrea: Me convencieron, chicos. Te voy a enseñar. Después de todo, no es casualidad que nuestros nombres empiecen con A. |
| Ana: That's true, we're looking for a Spanish teacher for Andrés. |
| Andrés: Yes, I need classes. Please help me. |
| Andrea: But I'm already retired. |
| Ana: You are very kind. That is what Andrés is looking for - a kind and patient person. |
| Andrés: Ana is telling the truth; I need a person with a lot of patience. And I don't think there will be a teacher like you, Mrs. Andrea. |
| Andrea: You've convinced me, kids. I will teach you; after all, it's not a coincidence that our names both start with A. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Dylan: That’s going a little too far. |
| Carlos: Okay, I am happy. I don’t want to think that you’d kind of go into that like that. |
| Dylan: No, no, no, I mean come on, names tons of names start with A. |
| Carlos: Yeah, but all three at the same place huh…. |
| Dylan: Huh…. |
| Carlos: That’s kind of freaky. She has met a teacher in Spanish. he just thinks like me. His name is Andrés and he doesn’t speak Spanish. My name is Carlos and I didn’t speak Spanish. |
| Dylan: Wow, you and Andrés are the same. |
| Carlos: Not any more. I am speaking more Spanish everyday. |
| Dylan: Yes, yes, yes. |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Dylan: “Clases”. |
| Carlos: “Classes.” |
| Dylan: “Cla-ses”, “clases”. “Retirado, retirada”. |
| Carlos: “Retired.” |
| Dylan: “Re-ti-ra-do, re-ti-ra-da”, “retirado, retirada”. “Amable”. |
| Carlos: “Kind.” |
| Dylan: “A-ma-ble”, “amable”. “Paciente”. |
| Carlos: “Patient.” |
| Dylan: “Pa-cien-te”, “paciente”. “Convencer”. |
| Carlos: “To convince.” |
| Dylan: “Con-ven-cer”, “convencer”. “Enseñar”. |
| Carlos: “To teach.” |
| Dylan: “En-se-ñar”, “enseñar”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Carlos: Okay guys, let’s have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Dylan: The first word we will look at is “clases”. |
| Carlos: “Clases”, a pretty straightforward masculine noun. |
| Dylan: Oh, a complete cognate, but actually feminine but this is something that we have in common. |
| Carlos: Since we are learning Spanish together... |
| Dylan: And giving classes. |
| Carlos: And this is something that I said not too long ago. “Sí, necesito clases. Por favor, ayúdeme”. |
| Dylan: “Yes, I need classes. Please help me.” |
| Carlos: The problem with taking classes and teaching is a schedule. |
| Dylan: Why is that? |
| Carlos: Well, we give English classes in the evenings at my school when everyone is out at work or school during the day. |
| Dylan: And what time did the classes for Spanish begin? |
| Carlos: “Las clases de español empiezan a las 8 de la mañana”. |
| Dylan: For classes to begin at 8 AM and then to teach at what, 6? That’s a lot. |
| Carlos: You have no idea. It is draining. |
| Dylan: I bet. |
| Carlos: Now I know a good related word. |
| Dylan: And what’s that, “la lección”? |
| Carlos: How do you know? It isn’t a lecture or a lesson. |
| Dylan: Well, next up an adjective, “retirado, retirada”. |
| Carlos: “Retired.” |
| Dylan: Yep, although these days, people are retiring later and later if ever. |
| Carlos: That’s a shame and by the time we get to that age, it’s going to be finished. |
| Dylan: Speak for yourself. I will be living in Costa Rica. |
| Carlos: True, you guys do have a good system. |
| Dylan: But Andrea seems pretty comfortable since her answer, “pero yo ya estoy retirada”. |
| Carlos: “But I am already retired.” See if you are earning a pension, then you might be reluctant to take another job on. |
| Dylan: I know I would be. |
| Carlos: “Mi padre era arquitecto, pero ahora está retirado”. |
| Dylan: What does a retired architect do with his time? |
| Carlos: He draws. |
| Dylan: I bet and making improvements on the house too, right? |
| Carlos: I don’t even recognize the house. |
| Dylan: So is he a “pensionado”? |
| Carlos: On a pension? Yep, and that’s what that word means. |
| Dylan: Next up, “amable”. |
| Carlos: “Amable”. A very kind and worthy word. |
| Dylan: “Amable” is a word you want to be called. |
| Carlos: Yeah. |
| Dylan: That is why I know that Ana is trying to butter up Andrea when she says “usted es muy amable”. |
| Carlos: “You are very kind.” Now that is the kind of thing where you say “oh, compliments will get you everywhere.” |
| Dylan: “Es importante ser amable con la gente”. |
| Carlos: “It’s important to be kind to people.” I try to be so every day but sometimes you know doing it is difficult. |
| Dylan: Yep, difficult situations arise but you know what, the way you look at things influences them greatly. |
| Carlos: But you know what I can’t think of a good related word other than “simpático” and that’s very common. |
| Dylan: Well, how about the adjective “amigable”. |
| Carlos: Does that mean “amicable”? |
| Dylan: Yeah. |
| Carlos: Perfect. I like that one. |
| Dylan: Well, good, happy to be of service. |
| Carlos: What’s next? |
| Dylan: Next up, another good adjective to be described as. |
| Carlos: Which? |
| Dylan: “Paciente” |
| Carlos: “Patient.” |
| Dylan: And Andrea is apparently very patient or at least she comes off in that way. |
| Carlos: I know I mean they just met and Andrés is already saying “Ana dice la verdad, necesito una persona con mucha paciencia”. |
| Dylan: “Ana is telling the truth. I need a person with a lot of patience.” |
| Carlos: I need one too but I also know that I am very patient when it comes to teaching. |
| Dylan: That’s a really good thing. |
| Carlos: It is, but sometimes if you are too patient, you are the students and that’s never good. |
| Dylan: I bet. |
| Carlos: Pero yo sé que soy un profesor muy paciente. |
| Dylan: I could see that. |
| Carlos: Now if you get bothered while you are teaching that it comes off bad. |
| Dylan: So you possess the noun “la paciencia”. |
| Carlos: “The patient”, yep. |
| Dylan: Well, let’s not make you wait for the next word, “convencer”. |
| Carlos: Oh, I like that verb, “to convince.” I am good at that too. |
| Dylan: A born salesman. |
| Carlos: You got to be that way sometimes. |
| Dylan: Yeah. |
| Carlos: And it looks like the dual has sold Andrea. |
| Dylan: “Me convencieron, chicos. Te voy a enseñar. Después de todo, no es casualidad que nuestros nombres empiecen con A”. |
| Carlos: “You’ve convinced me kids. I will teach you. After all, it’s not a coincidence that our names start with A.” |
| Dylan: Hah, that is a pretty cool coincidence. |
| Carlos: But I don’t think that I would read too deep into it. |
| Dylan: To each their own. |
| Carlos: But it is powerful to be able to convince people. |
| Dylan: “Los políticos siempre convencen a las personas”. |
| Carlos: “Politicians convince people”, but not all. |
| Dylan: No, no, not at all. |
| Carlos: Now wait, is “convencimiento” a related word? |
| Dylan: Yep, and from what I understand, that’s a very important one for you. |
| Carlos: Oh yeah, what does it mean? |
| Dylan: “Conviction.” |
| Carlos: Yes, that is very important. |
| Dylan: Last but not least, we have the verb “enseñar”. |
| Carlos: “To teach.” |
| Dylan: And we already heard the example but let’s hear it again. “Me convencieron, chicos. Te voy a enseñar. Después de todo, no es casualidad que nuestros nombres empiecen con A”. |
| Carlos: “You’ve convinced me kids. I will teach you. After all, it’s not a coincidence that our names start with A.” Man, she really begins to the beginning. |
| Dylan: Yes, she does. |
| Carlos: Now, who taught you to surf? |
| Dylan: “Antonio me enseñó a surfear”. |
| Carlos: Oh, I haven’t met him. |
| Dylan: He is a good teacher. |
| Carlos: Good with “la enseñanza”? |
| Dylan: “The teaching”, exactly. |
| Carlos: Now Dylan, we studied irregular verbs in the preterit. |
| Dylan: Now let’s review regulars. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Now remember guys, the preterit tense expresses an action prior to the present of another action. |
| Dylan: For example... |
| Carlos: “I saw him two days ago.” |
| Dylan: “Lo vi hace dos días”. |
| Carlos: Or “I spoke with her while you are working.” |
| Dylan: “Hablé con ella mientras tú trabajabas”. 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 and then we add one of the correct preterit endings. |
| Carlos: And luckily all the preterit endings for all regular “er” and “ir” verbs are identical. First, let’s look at the verb “terminar”. |
| Dylan: “Yo terminé”. |
| Carlos: “I finished.” |
| Dylan: “Tú terminaste”. |
| Carlos: “You finished.” |
| Dylan: “Él terminó”. |
| Carlos: “He finished.” |
| Dylan: “Ella terminó”. |
| Carlos: “She finished.” |
| Dylan: “Usted terminó”. |
| Carlos: “You finished”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros terminamos”. |
| Carlos: “We finished.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros terminasteis”. |
| Carlos: “You all finished”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos terminaron”. |
| Carlos: “They finished”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas terminaron”. |
| Carlos: “They finished”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes terminaron”. |
| Carlos: “You all finished”, formal. Now how about the verb “aprender”. |
| Dylan: “Yo aprendí”. |
| Carlos: “I learned.” |
| Dylan: “Tú aprendiste”. |
| Carlos: “You learned.” |
| Dylan: “Él aprendió”. |
| Carlos: “He learned.” |
| Dylan: “Ella aprendió”. |
| Carlos: “She learned.” |
| Dylan: “Usted aprendió”. |
| Carlos: “You learned”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros aprendimos”. |
| Carlos: “We learned.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros aprendisteis”. |
| Carlos: “You all learned”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos aprendieron”. |
| Carlos: “They learned”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas aprendieron”. |
| Carlos: “They learned”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes aprendieron”. |
| Carlos: “You all learned”, formal. And “decidir”? |
| Dylan: “Yo decidí”. |
| Carlos: “I decided.” |
| Dylan: “Tú decidiste”. |
| Carlos: “You decided.” |
| Dylan: “Él decidió”. |
| Carlos: “He decided.” |
| Dylan: “Ella decidió”. |
| Carlos: “She decided.” |
| Dylan: “Usted decidió”. |
| Carlos: “You decided”, formal. |
| Dylan: “Nosotros decidimos”. |
| Carlos: “We decided.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros decidisteis”. |
| Carlos: “You all decided”, informal. |
| Dylan: “Ellos decidieron”. |
| Carlos: “They decided”, masculine. |
| Dylan: “Ellas decidieron”. |
| Carlos: “They decided”, feminine. |
| Dylan: “Ustedes decidieron”. |
| Carlos: “You all decided”, formal. Okay, noticed the pattern there guys. It followed the same way. The first conjugation but then again the second and third conjugation “er” and “ir” verbs had the exact same endings but let’s check out some example sentences just to make sure we have this. |
| Dylan: “¿Cuánto ganaste ayer?” |
| Carlos: “How much did you earn yesterday?” |
| Dylan: “Aprendisteis a tomar el metro hace tiempo”. |
| Carlos: “You all learned to take the subway a while back.” |
| Dylan: “Y tú, hijito, ¿de quién aprendió esas vulgaridades?” |
| Carlos: “And you, little boy, where did you learn those vulgar words?” |
| Dylan: “Decidieron ir a la playa a pesar de las inclemencias del tiempo”. |
| Carlos: “They decided to go to the beach despite the inclement weather.” |
| Dylan: “¿Cuándo decidiste mudarte a Costa Rica?” |
| Carlos: “When did you decide to move to Costa Rica?” Or the example from our conversation... |
| Dylan: “Me convencieron, chicos”. |
| Carlos: “You convinced me kids.” |
| Dylan: Remember, for regular “ar” and “ir” verbs, the present indicative and preterit indicative forms are identical. For example, “terminamos el trabajo ayer”. |
| Carlos: “We finished the job yesterday.” |
| Dylan: “Terminamos el trabajo a las 6 de la tarde”. |
| Carlos: “We finished the job at 6 in the evening.” |
| Dylan: As you can see in these examples, the sense in which we are to take a verbal form depends on the context in which we use it. |
| Carlos: On the other hand, “er” verbs do not follow this rule. |
| Dylan: There are many, many, many – many irregular verbs in the preterit tense of the indicative mood however many of these are grouped into categories that can be memorized very easily with just a little practice. |
| Carlos: For example, consider the verb “tener”, “to have.” If we learn that “yo tuve” means “I had” then we already know that “mantuve” means “I maintained” and that “contuve” means “I contained” and that “sostuve” means “I sustained.” |
Outro |
| Carlos: But you know what guys, that just about does it for today. |
| Dylan: ¡Chao! |
| Carlos: ¡Nos vemos! |
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