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| Learn Spanish __ Impersonal "a" , Preterite Tense , Irregular Preterite Tense |
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Impersonal "a"
When the object of a verb (except tener) is a definite person, it is preceded by a. It isn't used if a number precedes the object though. The pronouns alguien (somebody), alguno (someone), nadie (nobody), and ninguno (no one) require a as well, when used as the direct object. It is also used before geographical names that are not already preceded by an article.
Veo a Juan. I see John.
Veo a alguien. I see somebody.
Describe a Chile. Describe Chile.
Preterite Tense
The preterite tense expresses an action in the past. It is used to describe events that are finished or complete. It is formed by adding these endings to the infinitive stem.
| -ar verbs |
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-er and -ir verbs |
-é
-aste
-ó |
-amos
-asteis
-aron |
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-í
-iste
-ió |
-imos
-iste
-eron |
Viví en España dos años. I lived in Spain for two years.
Ellos hablaron con los niños. They spoke with the children.
Quién comió la fruta? Who ate the fruit?
Irregular Preterite Tense
A few verbs are irregular in the preterite tense. The following are the most common:
| dar - to give |
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decir - to say, tell |
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estar - to be |
di
diste
dió |
dimos
disteis
dieron |
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dije
dijiste
dijo |
dijimos
dijisteis
dijeron |
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estuve
estuviste
estuvo |
estuvimos
estuvisteis
estuvieron |
| hacer - to do, make |
|
ir - to go / ser- to be |
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poner - to put, place |
hice
hiciste
hizo |
hicimos
hicisteis
hicieron |
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fui
fuiste
fue |
fuimos
fuisteis
fueron |
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puse
pusiste
puso |
pusimos
pusisteis
pusieron |
| tener - to have |
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traer - to bring |
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venir - to come |
tuve
tuviste
tuvo |
tuvimos
tuvisteis
tuvieron |
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traje
trajiste
trajo |
trajimos
trajisteis
trajeron |
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vine
viniste
vino |
vinimos
vinisteis
vinieron |
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