Reference · module 8
Yesterday
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Hablé, comí
Say what you did.
- hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron. The past of an -ar verb, and the accents on the first and third are not decoration.
- hablo means I speak and habló means he spoke. One accent, two tenses and two people. It has to be written.
- The -er and -ir verbs share one set: comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron. Two groups, one list to learn.
The mistake you are about to make
Ayer él hablo.
Ayer él habló.
The accent looks decorative and gets dropped. Without it hablo is "I speak"; habló is "he spoke".
Fui, tuve, hice
Use the past of the verbs you need most.
- fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. This is the past of BOTH ser and ir, and only the sentence says which.
- Fui médico means I was a doctor. Fui a Madrid means I went to Madrid. The a is the clue, and there is no other.
- The irregular pasts share a shape: tuve, estuve, hice, pude, quise. They end in -e for yo and -o for él, and none of them takes an accent.
The mistake you are about to make
fuí
fui
Hablé and comí carry an accent, so fui gets one too. The irregular pasts have none: fui, fue, tuve, hice.
Yesterday, last week
Say when something happened.
- ayer, anteayer, anoche. anoche means last night and is one word, unlike English, which needs two.
- hace means ago and goes BEFORE the amount: hace dos años, hace una semana. English puts it after and Spanish puts it first.
- pasado means last and follows the noun, agreeing with it: la semana pasada, el mes pasado, el año pasado.
The mistake you are about to make
dos años hace
hace dos años
"Two years ago" puts ago at the end, so hace follows the number. In Spanish it leads: hace dos años.
Telling what happened
Tell a short story in order.
- primero, luego, después, al final. These four hold a story together and all of them can open a sentence.
- y adds, pero turns, porque explains: Fui al cine porque tenía tiempo. Three words and most sentences can be joined.
- y becomes e before a word starting with i, and o becomes u before one starting with o: padres e hijos, siete u ocho. Spanish avoids two identical vowels.
The mistake you are about to make
padres y hijos
padres e hijos
"And" never changes in English, so y stays. Before a word starting with i Spanish swaps it for e: padres e hijos.