Preterite Tense Conjugation of Regular -AR Verbs
The preterite tense in Spanish is used to express an action completed at a definite time in the past, equivalent to English simple past tense. For example: They bought a small cake. We took a taxi.
To conjugate -ar verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish, simply drop the -ar and add the following personal endings: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron.
Here is the present tense of the regular -ar verb comprar (to buy):
| Subject | Verb | Meaning |
| yo | compré | I bought |
| tú | compraste | you bought |
| él ella usted |
compró | he bought she bought you (formal) bought |
| nosotros nosotras |
compramos | we bought we bought |
| vosotros vosotras |
comprasteis | you (plural) bought you (plural) bought |
| ellos ellas ustedes |
compraron | they bought they bought you (formal, plural) bought |
Note that the endings for nosotros/nosotras in the preterite tense are the same as those used in the present tense.
Here are some examples of other -ar verbs in the preterite tense:
Yo hablé con María. - I talked to María.
Tú estudiaste anoche. - You studied last night.
Él trabajó toda la noche. - He worked all night long.
Nosotros compramos los boletos ayer. - We bought the tickets yesterday.
Vosotros tomasteis la medicina. - You (plural) took the medicine.
Ellas descansaron después de correr. - They rested after running.
