2. El Pretérito:
• is a past tense (“-ed”)
• talks about what happened
• is a completed action
I went to the store.
I bought a shirt.
I paid in cash.
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3. The stem for regular verbs
in the pretérito is the
infinitive stem.
Tomar tom-
Hablar habl-
Comer com-
Beber beb-
Abrir abr-
Salir sal-
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14. Unos Irregulares:
Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and
-zar have a spelling change in
the “yo” form of the pretérito.
buscar tocar practicar
pagar jugar llegar
almorzar empezar comenzar
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15. The “yo” form of the pretérito
changes to conserve the sound
of the infinitive:
-car “-qué” “tocé”
-gar “-gué” “jugé”
-zar “-cé” “rezé”
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