Home / Grammar exercises / Level A2 / Regular indefinite past in Spanish (I)
This grammar exercise will teach you how to conjugate and use the regular indefinite past in Spanish. The way to conjugate it is very easy. As usual, the ending (-ar, -er, -ir) of the verb must be removed, leaving only the root of the verb. Then, the ending must be added, according to the subject of the verb. The endings are super-easy to memorize, and, good news! verbs that end in -er and verbs that end in -ir form the indefinite past in Spanish in the same way!
| Subject | Root | Ending | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Cant- | -é | Yo canté (cant-é) |
| Tú | -aste | Tú cantaste (cant-aste) | |
| Él | -ó | Él cantó (cant-ó) | |
| Nosotros | -amos | Nosotros cantamos (cant-amos) | |
| Vosotros | -asteis | Vosotros cantasteis (cant-asteis) | |
| Ellos | -aron | Ellos cantaron (cant-aron) |
| Subject | Root | Ending | Conjugation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yo | Beb-
Viv- |
-í | Yo bebí (beb-í) / Yo viví (viv-í) |
| Tú | -iste | Tú bebiste (beb-iste) / Tú viviste (viv-iste) | |
| Él | -ió | Él bebió (beb-ió) /Él vivió (viv-ió) | |
| Nosotros | -imos | Nosotros bebimos (beb-imos) / Nosotros vivimos (viv-imos) | |
| Vosotros | -isteis | Vosotros bebisteis (beb-isteis) / Vosotros vivisteis (viv-isteis) | |
| Ellos | -ieron | Ellos bebieron (beb-ieron) / Ellos vivieron (viv-ieron) |
The regular indefinite past in Spanish is very useful, and it is used everyday to talk about past actions and events that happened at a certain moment in the past. For example, if you took a exam last week, you would say “Me examiné la semana pasada“. If your friend sang at the opera one year ago, you would say “Mi amiga cantó en la ópera hace un año“.
Another use of the regular indefinite past in Spanish is to talk about a past action or event that happened in the middle of another action or event. For example, if while you were visiting Madrid your teacher taught you a lot of Spanish in a Spanish school in Madrid, you would say “cuando estaba visitando Madrid, mi profesora me enseñó mucho español”.
Now that you know how to conjugate and use the regular indefinite past in Spanish, download this grammar exercise and put your knowledge to practice. And don’t forget to visit our next post on the regular past indefinite in Spanish.
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-ar verbs: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron. -er and -ir verbs: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
For -ar and -ir verbs, nosotros has the same form in both tenses (cantamos, vivimos). The context or a time marker tells you which: Ayer cantamos.
Yes: canto (I sing) and cantó (he sang) are different words. The accent on -é and -ó is compulsory.
