Preterite AR verbs

Let’s learn how to conjugate “ar” spine verbs or otherwise called the “preterite” tense. We’ll use the verb “hablar” which means “to talk or speak”.

If I want to say I spoke, I would say	(Yo) hablé	We spoke would be	(Nosotros) hablamos  Notice that this conjugation is the same as the present tense. This is correct and the only way to tell the difference between present and the past spine tense is by the context. For example, “hablamos ayer” would be “we spoke yesterday”. And, “hablamos hoy” would be “We speak today”.
To say Juan or María, You spoke I would say	(Tú) hablaste	(tú plural – used only in Spain) would be	(Vosotros) hablasteis
He spoke would be She spoke would be You spoke would be	(El) habló  (Ella) habló  (Ud.) habló	They spoke would be They (women) spoke would be All of you spoke would be	(Ellos) hablaron  (Ellas) hablaron  (Uds.) hablaron

Now take a look at the Spine AR endings one more time and repeat them.

é	amos
aste	asteis
ó	aron

Now let’s try a few of these:

I spoke	Hablé
You spoke	Hablaste
He spoke	Habló
She spoke	Habló
You spoke	Habló
We spoke	Hablamos
They spoke	Hablaron
They spoke	Hablaron
All of you spoke	Hablaron

Let’s take one more look at the “ar” spine verb endings:

é	amos
aste	asteis
ó	aron

Now we’ll practice with a few different verbs. Are you ready?

I danced	(Yo) bailé
You rested – using “tú”	(Tú) descansaste
He studied	(Él) estudió
She visited	(Ella) visitó
You traveled – using “usted”	(Ud.) viajó
We called	(Nosotros) llamamos
They drove	(Ellos) manejaron
All of you practiced	(Uds.) practicaron

How did you do? Before going on to the practice session, we need to learn a few new words and take a look at some usage situations.

First our new Vocabulary 
the milk           la leche
all night           toda la noche
this morning    esta mañana
yesterday         ayer
the window     la ventana
the beans         los frijoles
last night         anoche 
the party          la fiesta
never               nunca
a lot                 mucho
last month       el mes pasado

Now we’ll take a brief look at a couple of usage situations. The verb “to enter” in Spanish is “entrar”. If you add a location after the word “entrar”, you need to put the word “en” afterwards. – For example, if you say I enter the house, in Spanish you would say “Entro en la casa” and if you say “I enter the car” you would say “Entro en el carro”.

Now, our final usage example: When you say “to try”, then add another verb, you have to add the word “de” between them. For example: “I tried to eat” – in past tense - would be “traté de comer”, the phrase “He tried to run would be “trató de correr”, and the phrase “We tried to speak” would be “tratamos de hablar” Remember, the AR verb “nosotros” form is the same in the present tense as well as the past tense. In the following Practice Session, you’ll have the chance to conjugate many ar spine verbs.

Practice Session 

Now, we’ll go ahead and begin our “ar” spine verb practice. As usual, you’ll read a phrase in English and you try to conjugate it into Spanish.

I answered	Yo contesté
(Marta) You bought it (la leche)	La compraste
He called her yesterday.	La llamó ayer
She changed it.	Lo cambió
(Sra. Benites) You didn’t clean it (la ventana)	No la limpió
We cooked them (los frijoles) yesterday	Los cocinamos ayer
They danced last night.	Bailaron anoche
All of you drew one.	Dibujaron uno
I drove to the store.	Manejé a la tienda
(Martín) You ate dinner last night.	Cenaste anoche
He explained it well.	Lo explicó bien
She fixed it yesterday	Lo arregló ayer
(Sr. Mendes) You helped me this morning	Me ayudó esta mañana
We invited them (ellos) last week	Los invitamos la semana pasada
They kept the money.	Guardaron el dinero
All of you listened well.	Escucharon bien
I watched TV last week.	Miré la televisión la semana pasada
(Juana) You painted it (la casa) last week	La pintó la semana pasada
He planned the party	Planeó la fiesta
She rested a lot this morning	Descansó mucho esta mañana
(Sra. Olivares) You never returned.	Nunca regresó
We sent it (la carta) yesterday	La mandamos ayer
They never sang it (la canción)	Nunca la cantaron
All of you studied a lot.	Estudiaron mucho
I swam last month	Nadé el mes pasado
I entered the store	Entré en la tienda
(Martín) You never took it	Nunca lo tomaste
He traveled last month	Viajó el mes pasado
She used it (la computadora) a lot	La usó mucho
(Sr. Mendoza) You visited them (ellos)	Los visitó
We waited for her all night	La esperamos toda la noche
She tried to eat	Trató de comer
They walked to the park last month	Caminaron al parque el mes pasado
All of you worked a lot last month	Trabajaron mucho el mes pasado.