Beginning Spanish ¡Empecemos por aquí!

378 •  Chapter 5: Nuestro pasado Preterite The preterite is also called pretérito perfecto in some texts. It is used for narrating actions in the past. It does not work for describing what things were like in the past. Preterite verbs answer the question “What happened?” There are many common verbs with irregular preterite conjugations, including ver , dar , venir , decir , ser , ir , hacer , querer , saber , poner , estar , andar , tener , poder , traer , and haber . Verbs that have stem changes in the present do not have stem changes in the preterite unless they are -ir verbs (Lengua 5.2). Here are some examples: Anoche fui al cine y vi una película muy extraña. No me gustó mucho. ¿A qué hora te levantaste esta mañana? ¿No comiste el desayuno? A mis papás les encantó el café negro que les diste. ¿Dónde lo compraste? Imperative This is the command form. It can be affirmative or negative, and it has different conjugations depending on who is receiving the orders. So far, we have seen informal singular ( tú ) affirmative and negative forms. There are several common verbs with irregular affirmative tú forms: ven , di , sal , haz , ten , ve , pon , sé . As for the negative imperatives, most of the irregularities are addressed in the first step of conjugation: find- ing the present tense yo form. Here are some examples: No tomes la Calle Main; hay un accidente. Ve por la Calle Washington. ¡Mamá, ya no veas las noticias, por favor! ¡Basta! Mira una película. ¡Despiértate, Victoria! No te duermas otra vez. More review To review the infinitive uses in more detail, look over Lengua 2.8: Expressions with the infinitive 1 Lengua 4.6: Expressions with the infinitive 2 To review the present indicative , look over Lengua 1.5: Regular present tense conjugation Lengua 2.2: Stem-changing verbs 1 Lengua 4.1: Reflexive verbs To review the present progressive , look over Lengua 4.4: Present progressive