Pretérito Indefinido

The core idea

The pretérito indefinido (often just called "the preterite") describes actions that are completed — with a clear beginning and end, seen as a finished event rather than a habit or ongoing state.

• A single completed action: Comí a las dos. (I ate at two.)
• A sequence of past events: Llegué, saludé y me senté. (I arrived, said hello, and sat down.)
• An action with a specific duration that's now over: Viví allí dos años. (I lived there for two years.)

Key irregular verbs

A handful of very common verbs break the pattern completely — and unlike regular preterites, none of these carry written accents.

Examples