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A1 Beginner · level 14 of 80

Level 14: Yesterday

29 Spanish words and 2 grammar points, in the order Huerta teaches them. Each word has an example sentence and a memory hook.

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Grammar in this level

Saying what you did: the preterite

The preterite says what happened and is finished: Ayer compré pan (yesterday I bought bread). For -ar verbs the endings are -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron: compré, compraste, compró. For -er and -ir verbs they're -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron: recibí, recibiste, recibió. The accents matter: compro is 'I buy', compró is 'he bought'. The nosotros form of -ar and -ir verbs is the same as in the present, so compramos can mean 'we buy' or 'we bought'.

  • Llamé a mi madre.I called my mother.
  • ¿Compraste el regalo?Did you buy the present?

Four you need now: fui, estuve, tuve, hice

The most common verbs are irregular in the preterite, with no accents. Ser and ir share the same forms: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron, so fui means both 'I went' and 'I was'. Estar: estuve, estuviste, estuvo. Tener: tuve, tuviste, tuvo. Hacer: hice, hiciste, hizo.

  • Ayer fui al mercado.Yesterday I went to the market.
  • Tuve un problema.I had a problem.

Words in this level

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