Example
Ayer fui al mercado.
Yesterday I went to the market.
Note
→ Preterite. Signals a specific, completed past event.
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Time adverbs that signal which past tense to use — preterite for completed events, imperfect for ongoing or habitual ones. Use this page to study the core Spanish words, English meanings, part-of-speech labels, and example sentences for this topic.
Review each word with examples and usage notes where available.
Ayer fui al mercado.
Yesterday I went to the market.
→ Preterite. Signals a specific, completed past event.
Anoche no dormí bien.
Last night I didn't sleep well.
→ Preterite. Specific completed time frame.
Anteayer vi una película.
The day before yesterday I saw a film.
→ Preterite.
El lunes pasado tuve una reunión.
Last Monday I had a meeting.
→ Preterite. "Pasado/a" with any day/week/month/year = preterite trigger.
La semana pasada estudié mucho.
Last week I studied a lot.
→ Preterite.
El año pasado viajé a México.
Last year I travelled to Mexico.
→ Preterite.
Hace tres días perdí mis llaves.
Three days ago I lost my keys.
→ Preterite. "Hace dos horas" = two hours ago.
Caminaba cuando de repente empezó a llover.
I was walking when suddenly it started to rain.
→ Preterite. Interrupting events use preterite; the background action uses imperfect.
De pronto, se oyó un ruido enorme.
All of a sudden, a huge noise was heard.
→ Preterite. Synonym of "de repente".
En ese momento decidí marcharme.
At that moment I decided to leave.
→ Preterite. Points to a specific instant.
Una vez vi un oso en el bosque.
Once I saw a bear in the forest.
→ Preterite. Counts a single completed occurrence.
De niño, siempre comía arroz con leche.
As a child, I always ate rice pudding.
→ Imperfect. Describes habitual or repeated past action.
Normalmente desayunaba a las ocho.
I normally had breakfast at eight.
→ Imperfect. Habitual past routine.
Generalmente iba al parque los domingos.
I generally went to the park on Sundays.
→ Imperfect.
A veces lloraba sin razón.
Sometimes I would cry for no reason.
→ Imperfect. Recurring but not always.
Todos los días corría por el parque.
Every day I used to run through the park.
→ Imperfect. Signals habitual past.
Antes vivía en Madrid.
Before / I used to live in Madrid.
→ Imperfect. "Antes" alone often means "back then / used to".
Mientras dormía, sonó el teléfono.
While I was sleeping, the phone rang.
"Mientras" + imperfect sets the background; the interrupting event uses preterite.
Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol.
When I was a child, I used to play football.
→ Imperfect. "Cuando + imperfect" = habitual childhood/past state.
Nunca llegaba tarde al trabajo.
He never used to arrive late to work.
→ Imperfect when habitual; can also be preterite for a single event: "Nunca lo dije."