Lesson 58

The Dot in the Past

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

The final past tense: the preterite — the "dot" in the past. Completed, finished actions.

-AR verb preterite

Person	Ending	hablar
I	-é	hablé
He/she/formal	-ó	habló
They	-aron	hablaron
You (informal)	-aste	hablaste
We	-amos	hablamos (same as present!)

Critical accent difference: hablo (I speak, stress on first syllable) vs habló (he spoke, stress on last). Get the stress wrong and you change the meaning entirely.

Enviar = to send (think "envoy," "envelope"). Olvidar = to forget. Todavía = still / yet. Ayer = yesterday.

Se envió = it was sent ("it sent itself"). This passive construction with se is very common.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
Hablé.	I spoke.
Habló.	He spoke.
No hablé.	I didn't speak.
No habló.	He didn't speak.
Compré.	I bought.
Lo compré.	I bought it.
No lo compré.	I didn't buy it.
Lo compró.	He bought it.
Me lo compró.	He bought it for me.
Lo compró para mí.	He bought it for me. (with preposition)
Envié.	I sent.
Lo envié.	I sent it.
Te lo envié.	I sent it to you.
No te lo envié.	I didn't send it to you.
No te lo envié todavía.	I didn't send it to you yet.
Envió.	He sent.
Lo envió ayer.	He sent it yesterday.
Se envió.	It was sent.
Se envió ayer.	It was sent yesterday.
Habló conmigo.	He spoke with me.
No sé por qué no habló conmigo.	I don't know why he didn't speak with me.
Olvidé.	I forgot.
Olvidó.	He forgot.
Lo iba a hacer pero lo olvidé.	I was going to do it but I forgot.