Coffee Break Spanish - CBS 2.13 | Introducing the preterite tense

Episode Date: June 21, 2010

In episode 13 of Coffee Break Spanish we introduce the preterite tense which is used to talk about things in the past. Please note that lesson 13 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 213 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.This season of Coffee Break Spanish features a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be included in the podcast feed. Just stay subscribed to the podcast to enjoy each episode. If you’d like to benefit from video versions, lesson notes and bonus audio materials, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Spanish in the Coffee Break Academy.Don’t forget to follow Coffee Break Spanish on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Spanish. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Spanish Facebook page here.If you’d like to find out what goes on behind the scenes here at Coffee Break Languages, follow @coffeebreaklanguages on Instagram.You can also check out our Coffee Break Spanish Twitter page and the Coffee Break Languages YouTube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, you bienveninos at Coffee Break Spanish. Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish. Now, it's Lesson 53. So far, we've been looking at the present tense, and indeed, talking a little bit about what you're going to do at some point in the future. Today, we're going to take things into the past, and we'll look at a text called the Preterate Text and learn the conjugation for A.R. verbs in the Preterate. I hope you enjoy the lesson. Okay, as I said, it's time to take a step back into the past, and we're going to talk about. things that happened in the past. Now, it's quite important that we consider carefully what kind of past we're talking about. People sometimes talk about the past tense, and I don't want to put you off, but there's more than one past tense in Spanish, depending on which type of past tense you're thinking about, or past occurrence. Think in English, for example, we would say, I did my Spanish homework, I was doing my

Spanish homework, I have done my Spanish homework, I had done my Spanish homework. I used to do my Spanish homework. There's lots of different tenses in English as well. And the one that we are going to be talking about today and indeed in the next few lessons is that the tense that is a narrative tense, it's something that tells the story.

So it's called the preterate, the preterate tense in Spanish. El preterito indefinido. El preterito indefinido. Uh-huh. and just to clarify, it's the tense that we use for single actions that happened once in the past. And that happened once business is quite important. Okay, let's imagine the situation.

This morning, I got out of bed. I washed. I had a shower. I shaved. I put on my clothes. I ate my breakfast. At the moment, I'm telling you. you a story about what I did.

These are all single actions that happened in the past. And I know I'm probably making a little too much of this at the moment, but it's really important that we remember this, because when we come to do other tenses in the past, this single completed action

is quite important. Now, in Spanish, there's a tense for this, it's the preterate tense, and just like the present tense, we'll need to learn different forms of the verb for each person. And this is where it probably gets a little complicated

because you've been thinking, for example, with Abla, Abla, Abla, Ablaas, Ablais, Ablan in the present tense. But now we're going to have to learn our preterate endings. And they're very easy. Now I start with I spoke. Okay, I spoke. Yesterday I spoke to my mother.

Ablae. Ablae. Ablae. Abla. Ably. Ably con my mother. I spoke literally with my mother. Abel with my mother.

So if it's Ablée for I spoke, how would you say yesterday I sang a song? So let's just take I sang. Cante. Okay, so yesterday I sang a song. I guess can't a can't a can't or a canceon. So,

can't. Cante. Abel. How would you say I danced? Baile. So at the weekend I danced with my friend.

Baile. Baile. Baile with my or with my amiga. Baile with my or my amiga.

Baile. Baile. Okay. So far we've had can't, Ablet, Baile. So the I-form or the yo form of the preterate tense of an A-R verb ends in E. And this is written E with an acute accent. So Ablet, H-A-B-L-E with an acute accent.

Ablet, can'te, baile. No, if I'm asking you, Cara, did you speak Spanish? I wouldn't say, Ablé, because that's I spoke, I would say, Ablaste. Ablaste. Ablaste. Ablaste. So, Kara, Ableste Espanol, a year?

Yes, Ableste. So, So, Ablaste, did you speak Spanish? Ayer, a year is? Yesterday. So did you speak

Spanish yesterday? Ayer, Ablaste Spanish? Yes, I spoke Spanish. I spoke Spanish yesterday.

Kara, Ayer, Kantaste a can't a can't a can't a can't a can't

a can Very well. So can'taste did you sing? I sang was Canté? Cante. Cara, ayer, ballaste with your friend? Yes, a year, baile with my friend. Yeah, just what's your stress, baile with my amigo. And that stress is really important, particularly in this preterate tense, because there really is a stress on the e.

So, Iyer, Ible, Ilya. So, y'er, ballast with your friend?

Yes, baile with my friend. Very so is can't, cantaste

and to say he or she or it sang, you would see canto.

Canto. Now, you're starting to think immediately. canto, that's I sing in the present tense, but it's not, listen to the stress. I sing

in the present tense is canto. Canto. And in the preterate tense, he or she or it sang is canto. Canto.

Canto, canto. Canto, canto. Okay, it's so important this, that you really get this stress right. And really think about it because in Spanish, in the preterate tense, the he, she or it part of an A-R verb is written with the ending O with an accent.

So, canto. Canto. Bailo. Bailo. Ablo. Ablo. As opposed to canto, bilo, ablo. Okay.

So, let's run through some of these again. Kara, during the vacations, the holidays, during the vacations, did you, you've, did you?

Yes, during the vacations, I played in the discotheca. Very so I can now see reporting back about Kara.

During the vacations, Kara was, she was, she was, she was, in the

discotheca. Okay? So, another question, Kara, during the vacations, Ablastey, Spanish? Yes, during the vacations, I'll, Spanish. So again, reporting back, I can say,

During the vacations, Kara, Ablo, Spanish. And another example, Kar, during the vacations, can't say, a song of

Navidad Yes, during the vacations can't a can't a can't

be a very once more I can report back and I can say during

the vacations Kara can't a song of a so

running through this again I sang can't I can't

You sang Cantaste And he, she, it, or indeed You, polite, sang Cantor. Canto. Canté, cantaste, canto.

Cantaste canto. Baile, balaste, balo. Baile, baile, baileaste, balo. Able, ablaste, ablo. Abla's ablo. Now, you know what's coming.

We've done I, you, he's she and it. We need to go on and do we, you there. Okay, we'll be back in just a moment. When you're not listening to Coffee Break Spanish, you can still practice your Spanish with our regular posts on social media. Find us on Facebook, just search for Coffee Break Spanish. We're Learn Spanish on Twitter.

And you can keep up with the team through our regular posts on Instagram. Follow Coffee Break Languages. It's our mission to help you turn your down time into your due time. Okay, let's get on with the lesson. Let's go on with we and you're going to love this one because it's exactly the same as the present tense.

So it's ablamos. Ablamos. Cantamos. Cantamos. Bailamos. And you're probably beginning to think, so how do we know if it's we sing or we are singing or indeed we sang? Well, you know from the content.

If I say, Oi, can'tamos a cancéeu'n today we're singing a song. Ayer, we sang a song. Yesterday,

we sang a song. Okay, so we can tell from the time phrase that's associated with it. So, we'llamos, cantamos, we'll dance,

let's move on to the U plural informal used in Spain form. And that is ablastes. Ablastes.

It's kind of like a plural form of ablaste, which makes sense. Ablastes. Ablastes. Ablastes. Ablastes. Cantastase. Cantastase. Baelastes.

Okay. Pretty difficult to say. Yeah. Bylastes. By last days. Okay. Baileastes? Bailestees.

Cantastes. Cantastes. Ablastes. Ablastes. Okay. And then finally, the V form, or the U, plural, polite form.

And that is Ablaron. Ablaron. Ablaron. Ablaron. Cantaron. Cantaron. Bailaron.

Bailaron. Okay. Now the ending there is Aaron, A-R-O-N, Aaron. Aron. Bailaron, cantaron, ablaron. Bailaran, can'tarron, avlaron. Very well. Let's go through a whole verb.

Now, we're going to take Ablar to speak, and we're going to say, I spoke, you spoke, he here, or it spoke, we spoke, you spoke, they spoke. Ably? Ablae. Abelaste. Abelaste. Ablo. Ablo. Ablamos.

Ablastais. Ablestais. Ablarsed. Ablarsie. Ablae, ablaste, ablo. Able, ablaste, ablou. Ablamos,

avlestestis, havelarn. Ablastais, avlars. It's pretty difficult in the second half there. Ablet, Ablet, ableste,

Ablo. Ablae, ablaste, ablo. Ablaste ablo. Ablmm, Ablmosteisestestestis, avlononon. Ablamos Ablastes

Ablarsestis Yeah, ablastes Ablastes Ablastais Ablarsas Ablarses Ablaron Abelamos

Abelastes Ablaron Very bien Let's take Baile Baile, Baile, balaste Bayle,

Baileaste Baylo Baylamos, Baylaestais Baylaron Bayalasas Baylaestis Bayelaron

Yeah There's definitely a rhythm that you need to get into here and it's only with practice that you can get this. And I have to say, I know a lot of listeners have been saying that we don't need to learn this vosotros form, this aste or the ace in the present tense. But I think without it, the rhythm doesn't work. Baile, bala, balaest, bailo, baolamos, baylaron. I think that's missing something.

Baile, bala, balaastey, bailestais, bailed. And let's finally take cantar. Cante, cantas, can'te, cantas, canstas, can'tas, can'tas, and did, cantas, can'tas, cantasties, cantalon. Canstays? Cantastase. Cantastey.

Cantastey, cantest, can't, cantas, cantas, cantam, cantas, cantas, cantal. Cante, cantas, canto, cantamos, cantastey, can'tadon. Very well, very good, very well, very good. Okay, what we're going to do now, just before we finish, is look at two or three phrases that will help you practice these verb tenses.

The first of them is, during the vacations. During the holidays. Okay, during the vacations. Durante las vacations. We've also heard today, ayer. Ayer. Which means, of course, yesterday. Ayer.

Ayer. You could talk about la Semena past. Last week, La Semana Pasada. La Semana Pasada. Okay. And another thing that you could say is maybe two years ago. So,

Ace dos a years. Ace two years. Okay. So let's think of some examples here. How would you say, two years ago, we sang a song. Ace two years,

we sang a song. This is probably a silly example, but it's getting you into the way of doing this with fairly easy things. How would you say during the holidays, I danced with Enrique Iglesias? During the vacations, I played with Enrique Iglesias. Very well. And finally, what about last week she spoke with my mother? The semester past, I spoke with my mother. very well okay i want you to go through these verbs this week and really practice them and get into that rhythm so that you can say can'te cantes te cantas canto cantamos cantestis can'tar on without even thinking about it okay

and that's where we're going to leave it today for this edition of coffee break spanish thanks for joining us and we hope it's been useful you can join the coffee break spanish community on facebook at facebook dot com slash coffee break spanish and follow at learn Spanish on Twitter. Much gratis and after Pronto. This is a production of

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