A2 Spanish grammar

Spanish Preterite Time Expressions for Finished Events

Finished time expressions help listeners understand that an event belongs to a completed past period. They also make short narratives easier to follow.

Spanish preterite time expressions: Use markers for finished periods

Ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado, and el año pasado locate an event inside a period that has ended.

Anoche vimos una película.

Last night we watched a film.Anoche is finished, so vimos presents a completed event.

Quick check

Which is a finished past marker?

Use hace to say how long ago

Hace plus a duration places a completed event a measured amount of time before now.

Llegué hace dos días.

I arrived two days ago.Hace dos días answers how long ago the arrival happened.

Sequence several completed actions

Use primero, después, luego, and al final to order a chain of finished events.

Primero desayuné, después salí y al final tomé el autobús.

First I had breakfast, then I left, and finally I took the bus.The connectors order three completed actions.

Common mistakes

Mañana fui al mercado.

Ayer fui al mercado.

Mañana points forward and cannot locate a completed preterite event.

Llegué desde dos días.

Llegué hace dos días.

Use hace, not desde, for a completed event meaning ago.

Al final primero llegué.

Primero salí y al final llegué.

Use primero for the opening event and al final for the last one.

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Preterite time expressions FAQ

What does preterite time expressions cover?

Finished time expressions help listeners understand that an event belongs to a completed past period. They also make short narratives easier to follow.

What is the first rule to remember?

Ayer, anoche, el lunes pasado, and el año pasado locate an event inside a period that has ended.

What is another important A2 pattern?

Hace plus a duration places a completed event a measured amount of time before now.

How can I practise Spanish preterite time expressions?

Complete the focused round, review each correction, and repeat the lesson when its skills become due again.

Continue learning

Regular preteriteForm regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the preterite and use them for completed past events.Ser and ir in the preteriteLearn fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, and fueron and use context to distinguish ser from ir.Irregular preteritePractise the irregular preterite stems and endings of tener, estar, hacer, poder, poner, and venir.Complete A2 Spanish grammar courseSee every A2 unit and continue through the course in order.Spanish tense guidesCompare the major tense systems used throughout this course.