The Spanish Compass: Learn Spanish for English Speaker

Have you ever tried to tell a story about your last vacation, a delicious meal you ate, or a project you finished yesterday, only to realize you were stuck in the present tense? Moving into the past is one of the most exciting milestones in learning Spanish. It allows you to share your history, your experiences, and the specific actions that have shaped your day. The Preterite Tense ( el pretérito ) is the primary tool used to describe completed actions in the past. If something happened once, had a clear beginning and end, or occurred at a specific moment, the preterite is the tense you need. While it might look intimidating at first, the regular patterns are very logical once you break them down. Understanding the Preterite: When to Use It In Spanish, there are two main past tenses. The preterite is used for "snapshots"—specific events that are finished and done. Think of it like a series of points on a timeline. Use the preterite for: Single events: "I bought a shir...