Regular -er Verbs in Spanish Preterite (Past) Tense

When you’re learning Spanish, mastering the preterite tense is crucial for expressing completed actions in the past. Regular -er verbs form the second largest group of verbs in Spanish, and fortunately, they follow a consistent pattern in the preterite tense.

Conjugation Rule

To conjugate regular -er verbs in the preterite tense, follow these steps:

  1. Remove the -er ending from the infinitive form of the verb.
  2. Add the appropriate ending based on the subject:
SubjectEnding
yo
-iste
él/ella/usted-ió
nosotros/nosotras-imos
ellos/ellas/ustedes-ieron

Note that these endings are identical to those used for regular -ir verbs in the preterite tense.

Examples

Let’s look at some common regular -er verbs and their conjugations in the preterite tense:

1. Comer (to eat)

SubjectConjugation
yocomí
comiste
él/ella/ustedcomió
nosotros/nosotrascomimos
ellos/ellas/ustedescomieron

2. Beber (to drink)

SubjectConjugation
yobebí
bebiste
él/ella/ustedbebió
nosotros/nosotrasbebimos
ellos/ellas/ustedesbebieron

3. Aprender (to learn)

SubjectConjugation
yoaprendí
aprendiste
él/ella/ustedaprendió
nosotros/nosotrasaprendimos
ellos/ellas/ustedesaprendieron

Usage in Context

Here are some example sentences to help you understand how these verbs are used in real-life situations:

  • Ayer comí paella por primera vez. (Yesterday, I ate paella for the first time.)
  • ¿Bebiste agua después de hacer ejercicio? (Did you drink water after exercising?)
  • Ellos aprendieron español el año pasado. (They learned Spanish last year.)
  • Nosotros corrimos un maratón el mes pasado. (We ran a marathon last month.)

Key Points to Remember

  1. The preterite tense is used for completed actions in the past.
  2. Regular -er verbs follow a consistent pattern in the preterite tense.
  3. The endings for regular -er verbs are the same as those for regular -ir verbs in the preterite.
  4. Pay attention to accent marks in the él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes forms.

By practicing these conjugations and using them in context, you’ll quickly become comfortable with regular -er verbs in the Spanish preterite tense. Remember, consistent practice is key to mastering any aspect of language learning.

Synonyms:

  • English: Regular -ER Verbs in Simple Past, Past Simple, Preterite Tense, Past Historic
  • Spanish: Verbos Regulares en -ER en Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito

Learn specific conjugations:

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