Pretérito perfecto simple o Indefinido
The pretérito perfecto simple (also called pretérito indefinido) is a verb tense used to refer to actions that occurred in the past. These actions are presented as completed and distant from the moment of speaking.
The pretérito indefinido is often accompanied by temporal particles that are useful for enhancing the concept of an action that began and ended in the past.
Some of these are words, also "markers," that express time.
- Ayer (yesterday)
- El mes pasado (last month)
- La semana pasada (last week)
Others, however, are usually associated with space and distance:
- El otro dáa (The other day)
- Aquel día (That day)
- Esa tarde (That afternoon)
Formation of the pretérito indefinido
In the case of regular verbs, the pretérito indefinido is formed with the verb stem and the ending corresponding to this tense.
Verbs that end in -ar
Verbs that end in -er
Verbs that end in -ir
Note that the first-person plural is the same as the present indicative mood for verbs that end in –ar and –ir. This means that tense words are important for determining whether someone is using the present or the pretérito indefinido.
- Nosotros vivimos en Barcelona - We live in Barcelona - PRESENTE
- Nosotros vivimos en Barcelona hasta 2015 - We lived in Barcelona until 2015 - PRETERITO INDEFINIDO
Attention
All second-person singular tenses in Spanish conjugation end with –s, except those of the pretérito indefinido, both regular and irregular forms.
The forms "amastes," "comistes," "vivistes" are incorrect.
Pay attention to these exceptions to avoid making this mistake.
The pretérito indefinido has several irregular forms. In the next article, we will examine the most frequently used irregular verbs.