Past Tense Spanish: The Only Beginner’s Guide You Need

Past tense Spanish A guide for Beginners

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Spanish past tenses can feel like a labyrinth at first glance. Many forms, tricky conjugations, and the preterite versus imperfect dilemma can cause confusion. This article offers the ultimate guide to past tense Spanish. We’ll show you how to start using each tense immediately, even if you’re a beginner.

What Is the Past Tense in Spanish?

In Spanish, the past tense describes actions, states, or events that happened before the present moment.

English uses words like “did” and “had” to talk about the past. Spanish, on the other hand, has different ways to show past actions with several special forms.

Each of these tenses shows something different about when an action took place. It can tell if the action is finished, how long it lasted, or how it connects to other past events.

How Many Past Tenses Are There in Spanish?

In Spanish, there are five different tenses used to speak about the past.

Let’s see an example of each one in action:

Past Tense	Spanish example	English example	Use case
Simple past	Ayer jugué con mi perro.	I played with my dog yesterday.	Completed action at a specific time
Imperfect	Jugaba con mi perro.	I used to play with my dog.	Habitual or ongoing past actions
Past progressive	Estaba jugando con mi perro.	I was playing with my dog.	Action in progress in the past
Present perfect	He jugado con mi perro.	I have played with my dog.	Past action connected to the present
Past perfect	Había jugado con mi perro.	I had played with my dog.	Action completed before another past action

Simple past: Describes a completed action that happened at a specific time in the past. It’s used when the action has a clear beginning and end.
Imperfect past tense: Used for habitual or repeated actions in the past, or to describe ongoing situations without focusing on when they started or ended.
Past progressive: Highlights an action that was in progress at a certain point in the past, often interrupted by another event.
Present perfect: Refers to actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past but are still relevant to or connected with the present.
Past perfect: Indicates that one action was completed before another past action occurred. It sets up a “past-before-past” sequence.

As you can see, most Spanish past tense words are similar to English ones. When you compare them side-by-side, they are easier to understand.

I say “most” because the imperfect past tense lacks an English counterpart.

Yes, the imperfect past tense can be translated into English in different forms. For example, “comía muchos caramelos” could be translated as “I used to eat a lot of candy“, or it could be translated as “I was eating a lot of candy”.

If you find this point slightly confusing, don’t worry! We’ll cover all five tenses in greater detail so that you can start using them right away.

1. Spanish Simple Past (Spanish preterite or pasado simple)

The simple past tense is used to talk about past actions that were already completed, with clear beginnings or endings.

For example, you could use the simple past tense to say:

I did the exam last summer – Hice el examen el verano pasado
I visited my grandparents – Yo visité a mis abuelos

In other words, these actions took place on a specific day or time.

Let’s look at more examples of the simple past tense in action.

I studied the whole night – Estudié toda la noche
We sold our house last month – Vendimos nuestra casa el mes pasado
We ate pizza last night – Anoche comimos pizza
I lost the keys again – Perdí las llaves otra vez
France won the World Cup – Francia ganó la Copa Mundial de Fútbol

If the action was something habitual, like “I studied every day of the week”, then we would need to use the imperfect past tense as the sentence implies that the past action took place regularly over a period of time. We’ll cover this next.

2. Imperfect Spanish Past Tense (Imperfect Preterite or imperfecto)

The imperfect past tense is a point of confusion for many people learning Spanish.

In general, the tense is used:

To speak about past actions that were habitual
To speak about an ongoing past action that was interrupted
To describe past characteristics (age, height, etc)
To describe past conditions
To describe past feelings

In other words, this tense is key to setting the stage, and telling stories in Spanish.

This tense is used when it is unclear whether the action was completed or not.

For example, if you talk about visiting your grandparents and use the simple past tense, then this indicates that you are speaking about a specific point in time when the visit happened.

When I visited my grandparents – Cuando yo visité a mis abuelos

If you use the imperfect past tense, then you’re indicating that this was a habitual action, and you’re not specifying a start or end point.

When I used to visit my grandparents – Cuando yo visitaba a mis abuelos

Let’s take a look at more examples:

I used to run every weekend – Yo corría todos los fines de semana
Raquel used to dance samba in an academy – Raquel bailaba samba en una academia

In the above examples, the actions don’t have a specific start or end point, but we know that they were habitual.

As we have already mentioned, this tense is also used to discuss dates, time, age, conditions, and feelings.

When you were 10 years old, we moved away from Brazil – Cuando tenías 10 años, nos mudamos de Brasil.
It was September when we went to Italy – Era septiembre cuando fuimos a Italia.
When I was a kid, I used to go to the lake with my cousins and some friends – Cuando era niño, iba al lago con mis primos y algunos amigos
I felt happy with my boyfriend – Me sentía feliz con mi novio.

And finally, this tense is often used to speak about a past action that was in progress, before it was interrupted by something else.

I was sleeping when the phone rang – Dormía cuando el teléfono sonó.

In the last example, the imperfect past tense translates as “I was sleeping”, instead of “I used to sleep”.

That’s because in Spanish, we can use both the imperfect past tense and the past progressive to talk about a past action that was ongoing.

As native speakers, we tend to use the past progressive to indicate a more recent time frame.

In English, it translates the same way.

I was sleeping when the phone rang – Yo estaba durmiendo cuando el teléfono sonó.

And this brings us nicely onto the next section.

3. Past Progressive Spanish (pasado progresivo)

The past progressive tense is a simple way to speak about a continuous action that took place in the past, generally within a more recent time frame.

This “-ing” tense is used in the exact same way that we use the English equivalent every day

I was working
She was eating
They were arriving

If you already know how to use the present progressive, then this tense will be simple for you.

In the present progressive, we use a simple formula:

Subject + ESTAR verb (present) + Progressive verb

I’m working – Estoy trabajando

The past progressive formula is almost identical, only this time we must conjugate “estar” in the imperfect past tense:

Subject + ESTAR verb (imperfect past tense) + Progressive verb

I was working – Estaba trabajando

Something we already touched on is knowing when to use past progressive vs the imperfect past tense.

The truth is, in many cases, the tenses are interchangeable.

Past progressive is often used when the action is more recent (i.e., something just happened)
Imperfect past tense is more often used when giving descriptions or telling stories and indicates that the action was a long time ago.

That said, knowing which tense to use is something that will become second nature to you once you’re exposed to more Spanish.

For now, let’s look at more examples of the past progressive:

I was working at the office – Estaba trabajando en la oficina
You were eating an ice cream – Estabas comiendo un helado
We were running a while – Estabamos corriendo un rato
They were doing homework – Estaban haciendo la tarea

Once again, this tense (like the imperfect past tense) is an easy way to talk about interrupted past actions.

I was doing the dishes when you arrived – Estaba lavando los platos cuando llegaste
I was watching TV but I fell asleep – Estaba viendo televisión pero me quedé dormido
We were working out when your sister called – Estábamos haciendo ejercicio cuando tu hermana llamó

Note: You’ll notice that the above examples contain a common structure: past progressive to describe the action that was in progress, and simple past to describe the action that caused the interruption.

For a more in-depth explanation on how to conjugate and use the past progressive, read our separate post here.

4. Spanish Present Perfect (presente perfecto)

This tense is used in the exact same way that we use the English equivalent.

We use the present perfect tense to talk about past actions that are still connected to the present, or probably still happening.

I have gone to Spain many times – He ido a España muchas veces
They have done all their homework – Ellos han hecho todas sus tareas
I have visited my cousins – He visitado a mis primos

To use this tense, all you need to do is remember the following formula:

Auxiliary verb “haber” in simple present + past participle of the action verb.

We have lived in Latin America for a few years – Hemos vivido en América Latina por algunos años
Have you seen all the Marvel movies? – ¿Has visto todas las películas de Marvel?
I have bought a new car for you – He comprado un carro nuevo para ti

If you ever visit Latin America, you might notice that native speakers often prefer the simple past tense instead of the present perfect when talking about recent actions.

For them, simple past tense is a less formal way to speak among friends and family.

For a more in-depth look at how to use the present perfect (including the conjugations), read our separate post here.

5. Spanish Past Perfect (pluscuamperfecto del indicativo)

Even I can admit that the name of this tense looks daunting when written down in Spanish:

Pluscuamperfecto del indicativo 😱

Fortunately, it’s quite simple to understand, and also has an English equivalent.

The past perfect Spanish tense is normally used when talking about an action that took place before something else happened in the past.

Let’s see how this tense works with some examples:

They had done a good job before they left – Habían hecho un buen trabajo antes de irse
We had taken many pictures but we lost the memory card – Habíamos tomado muchas fotos pero perdimos la memoria
I had slept a bit before running – Yo había dormido un poco antes de ir a correr

To use this tense, you need to follow a formula similar to the one we covered in the last section, only this time, the verb “haber” will be conjugated in the imperfect tense.

Auxiliary verb “haber” in the imperfect tense + past participle of the action verb

Here are some examples:

I had written some articles for the magazine – Yo había escrito algunos artículos para la revista
You had prepared the meal for all of us before going out – Habías hecho la cena para todos nosotros antes de salir
The students had read that book already – Los estudiantes ya habían leído ese libro

Conclusion

Hopefully, you can now distinguish the differences between all five tenses and how they are used to speak about the past. To sum up:

The simple past tense is used for actions that are finished and happened at a certain time.
The imperfect tense is for actions we do often or that were happening in the past, and for descriptions.
The past progressive tense is for actions that were in progress at a certain time in the past.
The present perfect tense is for actions that happened in the past but are related to now.
The past perfect tense is for actions that finished before another past action.

To put your knowledge into practice, try the exercises below.

Good luck!

Spanish Past Tense Practice

Try the exercises below once you know how to conjugate each tense.

Simple past

Trabajar: Yo ____________ esta mañana.
Jugar: Los niños ____________ en el parque la semana pasada.
Dormir: Ella _______________ toda la noche sin problemas.
Enviar: Te ____________ una carta el mes pasado
Leer: Anoche _____________ el último capítulo del libro que me recomendaste.

Imperfect Past

Pensar: (Yo) ___________ en ti todos los días.
Comer: Cuando (Él) era joven ____________ mucha comida chatarra.
Nadar: Mis hermanos y yo ______________ en el lago en vacaciones.
Ver: (Tú) ______________ las caricaturas todas todas las tardes.
Tener: En vacaciones (Yo) __________________ mucho tiempo libre.

Past Progressive

(see here for a full explanation of past progressive)

Cocinar: (Tú) _____________________ para ella.
Pintar: Ellos _____________________ la casa de su abuela.
Arreglar: (Yo) _____________________ el carro de mi hermano.
Caminar: Nosotros _________________ en el parque cuando el perro escapó
Hacer ¿Qué (Ustedes) _________________________?

Present Perfect

(see here for a full explanation of present perfect Spanish)

Regalar: (Yo) te ___________________________ un viaje a París.
Terminar: (Nosotros) ________________________ todas nuestras tareas.
Limpiar: (Ella) _____________________ toda la casa.
Pagar: Finalmente (Tú) _____________________ la hipoteca.
Estar: (Ellas) __________________________ esperando por ti toda la noche.

Past Perfect

Ser: (Él) ________________________ un buen profesor antes de jubilarse.
Soñar: Ella _____________________ con eso toda la vida.
Extrañar: (Ustedes) __________________ a sus familias durante el viaje.
Pensar: Nosotros ________________________ algo completamente diferente.
Perfeccionar: (Ellos) ______________________ la técnica antes de las competencias.

Answers