In English, if you want to talk about something you did in the past, you normally add -ed to the end of the verb (for example, Yesterday I watched TV).
In Spanish, verb endings change to reflect the past depending on whether the subject is yo, tú, él, etc. Let’s start by looking at yo and tú (and pay close attention to the accent at the end of the yo form!).
| viajar | |
|---|---|
| yo | viajé |
| tú | viajaste |
| comer | |
|---|---|
| yo | comí |
| tú | comiste |
| vivir | |
|---|---|
| yo | viví |
| tú | viviste |
Yo hablé mucho en español.
I spoke a lot in Spanish.
Viajé a Guatemala el mes pasado.
I traveled to Guatemala last month.
Tú bebiste mucho chocolate caliente.
You drank a lot of hot chocolate.
Ir and estar don’t have regular word endings when talking about the past.
| estar | |
|---|---|
| yo | estuve |
| tú | estuviste |
| ir | |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
Estuve en la ciudad de Madrid.
I was in the city of Madrid.
¿Fuiste a México el verano pasado?
Did you go to Mexico last summer?
Estuve en California y fui a la playa.
I was in California and I went to the beach.
Hace can mean a lot of different things! In the sentences below, it means ago. Unlike English, the amount of time is listed after hace, not before (as in four months ago).
Estuviste en Madrid hace cuatro meses.
You were in Madrid four months ago.
Conocí a María hace diez años.
I met María ten years ago.
Aprendí español hace mucho tiempo.
I learned Spanish a long time ago.