Topic:
Learn to use ser and estar to talk about how people or things were in the past.
To be in the past tense
In this lesson, we will learn to translate phrases like I was, We were, and They were.
We still use ser and estar, choosing between them in the same way. But now we are talking about circumstances and conditions that happened in the past.
First let's look at the conjugated forms:
Preterite conjugation of ser
As you can see, these forms of ser don't resemble the present tense forms at all!
At least the endings are similar to other preterite past tense verbs.
Don't worry, with practice they will become familiar too.
Preterite conjugation of estar
Estar in the preterite has a unique characteristic, where the verb stem becomes "estuv".
The stress is different
Note that there are no accent marks required in these forms of ser and estar.
That is a notable difference with the regular preterite forms we learned earlier.
One of the most obvious characteristics of regularly formed preterite verbs is that the accent of many of the forms falls on the final syllable.
But with these words, that is not the case and the accent falls on the next to last syllable, more like the majority of words in the language.
So, we don't say estuvé (es-too-VAY), but instead estuve (es-TOO-vay)
.
A very different look
For me, it was initially difficult to connect the preterite forms of ser with the present tense forms, because they look so very different.
For that reason, it is worthwhile to take a moment to think about how they represent the same concept despite looking so different.
Some examples are helpful:
- ¿Quién es tu maestro favorito? (Who is your favorite teacher?)
- ¿Quién fue tu maestro favorito? (Who was your favorite teacher?)
- Ellas son amigas. (They are friends.)
- Ellas fueron amigas por diez años. (They were friends for ten years.)
An unexpected look-alike: The verb ir
Now is a good time to point out another oddity in the Spanish language.
The Spanish verb ir means to go.
And, in the preterite tense it uses the exact same conjugation as ser!
Preterite conjugation of ir
We haven't seen the verb ir yet because it is irregular in the present tense as well. We will get to it in a future unit.
But I wanted to cover the preterite form of ir here because it can be confusing to see these words appear with a different meaning.
For example:
- Yo fui una profesora en México. (I was a professor in Mexico.)
- Yo fui a México. (I went to Mexico.)
As with other potential confusing constructions, context will tell you whether fui in a specific sentence means I was or I went.
Ser in the preterite vs imperfect
Because ser normally conveys characteristics that are permanent, it is somewhat less common to see it in the preterite tense, and it is more commonly used in the imperfect tense when talking about the past.
We will see the imperfect conjugations of ser and estar in the next lesson, but I want to make a point here using the imperfect form of I was which is era.
- Yo fui su amiga. (I was her friend.)
- Yo era su amiga. (I was her friend.)
In the first case, using fui emphasizes the fact that you were a friend of hers at some specific point in time. You might perhaps use this to explain why you did something for her, or perhaps you are talking about a specific amount of time in the past.
In the second case, using era, the sentence is more about generally being her friend in the past. Maybe you are talking about your youth in general for example.
Often, either tense is possible
In many of the exercises, you will see sentences where either the preterite tense or the imperfect tense would be perfectly fine in the sentence.
In each case, the choice of which tense to use comes down to where the speaker wants to place emphasis.
The decision is often a subtle one.
Remember to watch the prompt and the color of the input box to avoid errors in choosing the wrong tense.
Good luck in the exercises!
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On to the Exercises and the Quiz
To practice the verb forms in this lesson, click Practice Exercises below.
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