Learn preterit tense when talking about actions that took place before the present moment
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Dylan: Buenos días, soy Dylan. |
| Carlos: What’s going on? I’m Carlos. Preterit tense. “Actions prior to now.” What’s the good word, Pod101 world? My name is Carlos. Some of you might remember me from some popular regional series as Costa Rica. What happened to my “tica”. And I’d give the world for a pot of meat. |
| Dylan: What? |
| Carlos: Just go with it. Now, I know some of you in our audience may be a bit confused. No, we are not Jo and Bea. And now, I am pleased to say that I have been asked to take up the reins with the new partner, Dylan Jiménez. |
| Dylan: Dylan Gingold. |
| Carlos: I’m already making mistakes. |
| Dylan: What’s up everybody? Hi, I’m Dylan. Excited to be here. |
| Carlos: Well, let me be the first to welcome you to our Spanishpod101.com team. |
| Dylan: Thank you. |
| Carlos: Would you like to tell our audience a little bit about yourself? |
| Dylan: All right, just a little. I’m Dylan, and I was born in Costa Rica from American parents, so that’s why I speak English, and español también. |
| Carlos: Excellent. You know, I’m really optimistic about these lessons. I must say that verbs are something I have a lot of trouble with. |
| Dylan: Well, that’s why I am here. We’ll get everyone through . |
| Carlos: I like the confidence. |
| Dylan: Learning the patterns of the verb forms is really, really, really, important. |
| Carlos: Wait, so if wanted to learn Spanish really well, I could just listen to these lessons and learn the verb forms? |
| Dylan: Remember, Carlos, what you put into your studies determines what you get out. You could learn all of the verbs, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. |
| Carlos: Right. And that’s why we have the Learning Center. |
| Dylan: Exactly, these lessons are designed to be used in tandem with the lesson specific, as well as the general reference to what’s available in the Learning Center. |
| Carlos: But don’t forget, the Learning Center is only accessible with a premium membership. Check it out on us for 7 days, you won’t regret it! |
| Dylan: So, what are we going to look out for our premiere? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Carlos: Well, today, we’re going to start our discussions of preterit tense and examining this paradigm with three model verbs. We picked good ones: “mirar”, “comer” and “abrir”. |
| Dylan: “Mirar”, “comer”, “abrir”. |
| Carlos: Right. “Mirar” - “to look”, “comer” - “to eat” and “abrir” - “to open”. All good actions. In what tense are we looking at them today? Please, say present. |
| Dylan: Nope, not so lucky. Just to be fair to our audience, let’s recap where Jo and Bea left off. |
| Carlos: Sure, be my guest. |
| Dylan: Well, in lesson 15, Jo and Bea finished their discussion of the absolute future with a review that spanned the last four lessons. |
| Carlos: Wow! So, I guess it will be a good idea to go back and listen to them if you are new. |
| Dylan: Probably a good idea. |
| Carlos: So, today, let’s go back from the future. |
| Dylan: Is there any way to say the preterit tense? |
| Carlos: That’s exactly what it is. |
| Dylan: Okay. So, in today’s lessons, we’re going to learn how actions in the past are formed. |
| Carlos: I’m ready when you are. |
| Dylan: So, the preterit tense… |
| Carlos: Yeah, the preterit tense. Now, how can we define that for those who might not be that familiar? |
| Dylan: Well, the thing is, you make them across some other names for this tense - historic past, definite past or simple past. |
| Carlos: Okay. Yes, you know, I’ve actually heard all those, and it is a little confusing. So, how exactly is the preterit tense used? |
| Dylan: It’s used to describe a single completed action in the past or an action which took place over a defined period of time, however long. |
| Carlos: My God! That sounds intimidating . |
| Dylan: Really, it’s not. So, Carlos, if I say “Hablé con Paco ayer”, “I spoke with Paco yesterday”, when does the action of the verb occur? |
| Carlos: Well, let’s see, if the verb is “hablé”, “I spoke”. So, it sounds like it will take place yesterday. |
| Dylan: Okay, you say it took place yesterday, then we can also say that it took place before the present, right? |
| Carlos: Sí, profe. |
| Dylan: Here, all the action of “hablar” is prior to the present, “hablé”, “I spoke.” |
| Carlos: All right. I think I’m getting it. How about another example? |
| Dylan: Okay. If I say “I spent two years working in San Juan”, how would we say that using in the preterit tense? How would we say that in Spanish? |
| Carlos: Hmm, San Juan. Okay, you brought Puerto Rico into it. |
| Dylan: So, now you have to get it right. |
| Carlos: Actually, let me think… “Pase dos años trabajando en San Juan”. |
| Dylan: “Pasé dos años trabajando en San Juan”. |
| Carlos: Oh, thank you for that. “Pasé dos años trabajando en San Juan”. |
| Dylan: Nice! Good job! Okay, well, let’s switch it up a bit. |
| Carlos: Okay, I’m game. |
| Dylan: If I say… “Ayer compré un abrigo nuevo”. |
| Carlos: Hmm, “Yesterday I bought a coat new.” No, no, no, “a new coat.” “Yesterday, I bought a new coat.” |
| Dylan: Good save. |
| Carlos: Sometimes I make them. So, how was the preterit tense used here? |
| Dylan: To describe a single completed action in the past or an action which took place over a defined period of time, however long. |
| Carlos: Time to get in some verb formation. Today’s trio will be… |
| Dylan: “Mirar” - “to look”, “comer” - “to eat” and “abrir” - “to open.” |
| Carlos: All formed in the preterit. |
| Dylan: So, Carlitos, the formation of preterit is not so hard. |
| Carlos: Let’s see about that. |
| Dylan: For the regular verbs, there are two ways to form it. |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Dylan: For “ar” verbs like “mirar”, all we have to do is to remove the infinitive ending from the infinitive form and add the personal endings for the preterit. |
| Carlos: Okay. Well, what may I ask are the personal endings for the preterit? |
| Dylan: They’re “-é”, “-aste”, “-ó”, “-amos”, “-asteis”, “-aron”. |
| Carlos: Okay, I’m going to try this. Be patient, don’t laugh. |
| Dylan: Good luck, good luck. |
| Carlos: Thank you. Encouragement. “-é”, “-aste”, “-ó”, “-amos”, “-estais”... |
| Dylan: “-asteis”. |
| Carlos: “-asteis” and “-aron”. |
| Dylan: Mm-hmm. |
| Carlos: Wait. Hold on, is it “-amos” also the ending for the first person plural of the present tense? |
| Dylan: It is. So, if these are the same form, what’s going to tell you which meaning the verb takes on? |
| Carlos: Let me guess, context? |
| Dylan: ¡Así es! Good job! |
| Carlos: All right, I say we should run through the paradigms to make this clear. |
| Dylan: Let’s go. “Mirar”. |
| Carlos: “To look.” |
| Dylan: “Yo miré”. |
| Carlos: “I looked.” |
| Dylan: “Tú miraste”. |
| Carlos: “You looked.” |
| Dylan: “Él miró”. |
| Carlos: “He looked.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros miramos”. |
| Carlos: “We looked.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros mirasteis”. |
| Carlos: “You all looked.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos miraron”. |
| Carlos: “They looked.” |
| Dylan: See, I told you it wasn’t that hard. |
| Carlos: All right, point taken. But, Dylan, how about also some examples with “mirar” in the preterit tense? |
| Dylan: So, let’s say, you can’t find your keys. |
| Carlos: Mm-hmm. |
| Dylan: But I think you might not have looked hard enough. I could ask you “¿miraste por todas partes?”, “Did you look everywhere?” |
| Carlos: You know, I always lose my stuff and I never look for it really well. It’s one of the curses. You know, when I was home, my mom used to be like... |
| Dylan: All right, all right, come on, Carlos. Here’s another one. Let’s say that I told my friend that I was going to quit the writing profession and become a professional scuba diver. |
| Carlos: Okay… |
| Dylan: And when I describe to you how she reacted, I could say “Ella me miró sorprendida”, “She looked at me surprised.” You want another one? “Ella me sonrió asustada”, “She smiled at me scared.” |
| Carlos: She smiled at me scared? Wow! Okay. So, you said that we can use the verb “mirar” as a model for all regular “ar” verbs, right? |
| Dylan: Sí, Carlitos. |
| Carlos: Then what’s the deal with “er” and “ir” verbs? |
| Dylan: Buena pregunta. |
| Carlos: Thanks. |
| Dylan: First of all, let’s say that the regular “er” and “ir” verbs are conjugated in the same way in the preterit tense. |
| Carlos: Nice. A fewer forms make Carlos un chico feliz. |
| Dylan: Just like we did in “ar” verbs, here, we’re going to remove the stem from the infinitive form and then add the personal endings. |
| Carlos: Let me guess, these endings are going to be different from the endings of “ar” verbs? |
| Dylan: Yeah, there is some difference but I think you see the patterns. |
| Carlos: So, what are the endings? |
| Dylan: “-í”, “-iste”, “-ió”, “-imos”, “-isteis” and “-ieron”. |
| Carlos: So, let’s see what this paradigm looks like for “comer”. |
| Dylan: Here we go. “Comer”. |
| Carlos: “To eat.” |
| Dylan: “Yo comí”. |
| Carlos: “I ate.” |
| Dylan: “Tú comiste”. |
| Carlos: “You ate.” |
| Dylan: “Él comió”. |
| Carlos: “He ate.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros comimos”. |
| Carlos: “We ate.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros comisteis”. |
| Carlos: “You all ate.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos comieron”. |
| Carlos: “They ate.” And how about some examples with this verb “comer” in the preterit tense? |
| Dylan: “Comiste toda la torta y por eso estás gordo”, “You ate all the cake and that’s why you are fat.” |
| Carlos: I just had a flashback to when I was a kid. |
| DYLAN: How about this other one? “El niño no comió sus verduras”. “The boy didn’t eat his vegetables.” |
| Carlos: Okay, once again, I’m getting a flashback to my childhood. All right, so if “er” and “ir” verbs are conjugated in the same way, then it should be pretty easy to recognize this pattern in the verb “abrir”. |
| Dylan: Sin duda. |
| Carlos: All right. Let’s conjugate the verb “abrir” in the preterit tense of the indicative mood. |
| Dylan: “Abrir”. |
| Carlos: “To open.” |
| Dylan: “Yo abrí”. |
| Carlos: “I opened.” |
| Dylan: “Tú abriste”. |
| Carlos: “You opened.” |
| Dylan: “Él abrió”. |
| Carlos: “He opened.” |
| Dylan: “Nosotros abrimos”. |
| Carlos: “We opened.” |
| Dylan: “Vosotros abristeis”. |
| Carlos: “You all opened.” |
| Dylan: “Ellos abrieron”. |
| Carlos: “They opened.” And to finish this off, let’s put “abrir” in context with some examples of it in the preterit tense. |
| Dylan: All right. So, we can say “Ella abrió sus ojos”, “She opened her eyes.” “Miguel me abrió la puerta”, “Miguel opened the door for me.” |
| Carlos: Okay. |
| Dylan: Nice. |
| Carlos: Well, you know they say Latin men are gentlemen. |
| Dylan: Yes, they say. |
Outro |
| Carlos: This wraps up our first verb conjugation lesson, Dylan. Did you have a good time? |
| Dylan: Yes. Well, it’s our first, but remember, Carlos, there are 15 previous lessons. |
| Carlos: Well, Dylan, fue un placer. |
| Dylan: Igualmente Carlos, igualmente. Chao everybody! |
| Carlos: Peace, love and Spanish. |
| Dylan: Peace, love and what? |
| Carlos: Chill, give it a chance. |
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