Learning Spanish Verb Conjugation? Powerful guide for Simple Past in the Indicative Mood

Indefinite preterite, or simple past tense in the indicative mood

In this post, you will find a detailed explanation of the indefinite preterite verb conjugation in Spanish for the indicative mood. This is also known as the simple past tense. For a general explanation on Spanish verb conjugation, check out our main conjugation article.

Previous but uncertain

Spanish Indefinite Preterite

As the name says, this tense expresses an action that has happened in the past but it’s somewhat indefinite. In other words, we use this tense to talk about something that occured before we spoke. However, it’s not really clear if the action was concluded or not. In some cases, you can infer the final state of the action from the nature of the verb.

For example, in the phrase, nací en 1990 ( which translates to “I was born in 1990”), the verb nací refers to something that happened in the past and it is somewhat determined by the duration of a whole year. This is an example where the nature of the verb let’s us deduce that the action has concluded.

A tense for the fleeting moment

This tense is used to express that which is passing by, in opposition to the sense of permanence or duration expressed in the imperfect preterite. 

Now, let’s see another example. In the phras: jamás vi tanta belleza (which translates to “I never saw such beauty”), the verb vi is clearly the past tense of the verb ver (to see). However, we can use this phrase to talk about something that happened in the past or something that is currently occurring. Say you are in front of a magnificent tree, a painting or a very attractive person. You would say jamás vi tanta belleza referring to something that you are currently seeing. But also, the next day or the next month or the next year, when you tell someone about that experience, you would also say jamás vi tanta belleza. This example shows how the verb vi, depending on the context, can either refer to the immediate past that is the fleeting moment, or to the long gone past.

Another example could be viajamos por Europa. To show how indefinite the verb viajamos is in this phrase, we could translate it to English in two different ways, either as “we are traveling through Europe” or as “we travelled through Europe”. 

Indefinite preterite and perfect preterite

This two tenses are similar in that they express actions or events that occurred before the moment of the word and it’s not emphatic on the passing by of such event, but on that it has already passed. For example, the phrases el concierto terminó (indefinite preterite) and el concierto ha terminado (perfect preterite), both refer to an event in the past. We can translate this phrases to “the concert finished” or “the concert has finished”. 

Both refer to a past event, but each one let’s the speaker relate to the event in different ways, or different levels of presence. If the event or action is close to the psychological present of the speaker, it is likely he/she would use the perfect preterite. There is no “hard rule” to determine the boundaries of this psychological present. It depends on context, intention and the point of view of the speaker.

Further examples of indefinite preterite conjugation

Now we will look into the indefinite preterite tense (pretérito indefinido) conjugation table for the words we used as examples. This is also referred to as simple preterite.

Nacer (to be born)

  • Singular
    • First person: yo nací
    • Second person*: tú naciste (informal) / vos naciste (informal) / usted nació (formal)
    • Third person: él nació (masculine) / ella nació (femenine)
  • Plural
    • First person: nosotros nacimos
    • Second person**: vosotros nacisteis (masc. and neutral) / vosotras nacisteis (fem.) / ustedes nacieron (neutral)
    • Third person: ellos nacieron (masc. and neutral) / ellas nacieron (fem.)

Ver (to see)

  • Singular
    • First person: yo vi
    • Second person*: tú viste (informal) / vos viste (informal) / usted vio (formal)
    • Third person: él vio (masc.) / ella vio (fem.)
  • Plural
    • First person: nosotros vimos
    • Second person**: vosotros visteis (masc. and neutral) / vosotras visteis (fem.) / ustedes vieron (neutral)
    • Third person: ellos vieron (masc and neutral.) / ellas vieron (fem.) 

Terminar (to finish)

  • Singular
    • First person: yo terminé
    • Second person*: tú terminaste (informal) / vos terminaste (informal) / usted terminó (formal)
    • Third person: él terminó (masc.) / ella terminó (fem.)
  • Plural
    • First person: nosotros terminamos
    • Second person**: vosotros terminasteis (masc. and neutral) / vosotras terminasteis (fem.) / ustedes terminaron (neutral)
    • Third person: ellos terminaron (masc. and neutral) / ellas terminaron (fem.) 

* Remember that each country and culture considers some of these variables as formal or informal. You can find more on that in this post. The short version: Usted is the most respectful form, and we use it when talking to elders or in formal circumstances. The forms vos and tú are mostly considered informal, they tend to be the way to talk amongst friends or family. However, there are some exemptions. For example, in Argentina, vos is the standard use; and in Mexico it is common to use the tú form.

** The use of vosotros / vosotras is almost exclusively used in Spain. It is not common among Latin American countries and it’s considered snobbish or foreign. Most Latin American countries, if not all, use ustedes for the second person plural.

Note: Always consider that plural pronouns in Spanish are gendered. The common rule is to use the masculine form if the gender of the subjects in a group is either mixed or unknown.

PRO TIP

One of the best resources to check the proper form of a verb according to each tense is the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Just look for the word and click on the button that says CONJUGAR that will appear next to the word.

That will display the table for all the possible conjugations for that verb. Check it out here.

Learn more!

Go ahead to our Spanish Verb Conjugation article for more information. There you will find a general explanation on the variables, paradigmes and rules on verb conjugation. You will also find an Index Chart with links to detailed articles on specific tenses, such as this one.