Immersive Spanish - Immersive Spanish, Season 6, San Sebastián: Episode 20, Reminiscing at the Beach, The Preterite Tense

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

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Hello, Villajeros, I'm sat on this, Banco, bench on the Basseo de la Concha, the promenade that runs along La Concha Bay. It's a beautiful morning. The sea is completely flat. There are people jogging, walking dogs, pushing prams, and enjoying the presence of the coast. I've been here in San Sebastian for a while now, a good while, and I'm sitting here thinking, I've done a lot. The hike up Monte Ullia, the surf competition on Surriola, the market, the restaurants, the pharmacy of my blisters, the long evenings walking through the old town. It's been quite a trip, and, and well, it occurs to me that to talk about all of these things, things that happened that are done completely.

I need a tense we haven't properly covered yet. The preterate, the simple past. Now, you already know the present perfect from earlier this season. I've comeido, I've vivid, I have eaten, I have drunk, I have paid. That's used for things that happened recently or have some connection to the present.

But the preterate is different. The preterate is for things that have happened at a specific point in the past and are completely done. Not I have gone, but I went. I went. Listen to these two side by side. I am eaten. That's the present perfect. The one you already know.

Comey. I ate. That's the preterate. A comido. Comey. Here, how the second one is shorter, sharper, more finished. Comey. I ate.

Done. And it's that little e sound right on the end that's doing all the work. Comey. Let me build out the whole pattern for you, nice and slow, using Comer to eat. When it's me, I ate, I land on that e sound, comi. When it's you, you ate, it stretches out. Comiste. When it's he or she, he ate or she ate,

comio. And when it's dumb, as in they ate. Comieron. So, the four-shaped. you're listening for are Comey Comiste Comeo

Comeyre Comeyron Come on Say them with me Comey Comey Comeiste Comeiste

Comey Comey Comeo Comey Comey Comeyron Comeyron Very

Now here's the lovely part. That exact same pattern works for any ER or I-R verb. So let's do Bevere. To drink. Same melody. Just swap the start. I drank. Bevi. You drank. Beviste. He or she drank. Bevior. They drank. Bevier. They drank. Bevieron. Say them with me. Bevi. Beviste. Beviste.

Bevio. Bebeer. Bebriero. Hear how it's the same song? Comey. Bevi. Comiste. Beviste.

Once your ear locks onto that, every E.R and I are. verb falls into place. Now, A-R verbs are almost identical with one small twist. On the I form, instead of that E sound, you get an A sound. Listen for it. Take Abler to speak, which ends in A-R. I spoke.

Ablet. Ablet. Not Abli, Abli. That E, at the end is your flag that it's an A-R verb. You spoke. Ablaste, he or she spoke. Ablo, they spoke.

Ablaron. Say them with me. Ablet, Ablae, ablaste. Ablaste. Ablo. Ablo. Ablo.

Ablaaron. Ablaron. And the same for Pagar. To pay. Listen for that E on the I form again. I paid. Pagé. You paid.

Pagaste. He or she paid. Pagos. They paid. Pagaron. Say them with me. Pagé. Pagé.

Pagaste. Pagaste. Pagos. Pagaron. Pagaron. So there's your big picture. E-R and I-R verbs give you that e. Comee.

Bevi. A-R verbs give you that Ablee That's the whole heart of the preterate right there Now let me put this to use Because sitting here on this bench I want to reflect on what I've done since I've arrived And every single thing is a preterate sentence

I arrived in San Sebastian I Jagee to San Sebastian. I arrived from Jegar to arrive. Jagee to arrive. Jagee a San Sebastian. I walked through the old town on the first day. Caminee for the part of the year the first day.

I walked. Camine for the part via the first day. Camine. For La Parte Vea

El Primar Day. I ate tapas in a tavern. Comey tapas. In a taverna.

Comee. Tapas. In. One. Tavern. I drank a lot of wine. Bevi much vino.

Bevi much wine. Bevi much wine. I watched a surf competition on Surriola Beach. I saw. I saw a competition of surf in the play of

Surriola. I saw or watched from VER. V-E-R to see Ver.

Vi a competition of surf in the play of Surriola. Vi a competition

of surf in the play of Surriola. I watched the most beautiful sunset.

I V the atardiser Mastonite. Vi El Atterdecer more Bonito. Vi the

more Bonito. I bought fish at the market. Compre pesado in the market.

Compre I bought from Comprar. I'm Pescad in the Mercado I Pescad

Pescado in El Mercado I went to the pharmacy because I had blisters

Fui A La Pharmacia because had ampoyas Now Fui this is one of the

most important irregular preterates Fui means I went from ir to go. Fui. Fui at la pharmacia.

Fui at la pharmacia. I went to the pharmacy. Now, Fui is irregular and it's essential because ir to go is one of the most used verbs in the whole language. It doesn't follow the or the e-patterns we just learned. So you'll want to learn this one by ear, as it's its own little tune.

Here's the full set. I went. Fui. You went. Fisté. He or she went. Fue. They went.

Fueron. Say them with me. me. I went. Fui. Fui. You went. Fisté.

Fue. Fierst. Fuest. He or she went. Fue. Fue. They went. Fueron.

Now here's something fascinating. The verb, to be, has exactly the same. exactly the same preterate as ir. Fui. Fiste. Fue.

Fueron. Identical. And context always makes it clear which one you mean. For example, Fui at San Sebastian. I went to San Sebastian. That's Iir.

Fue increivééble. It was incredible. That's ser. It's ser. It was incredible. You're going to use this constantly. Let me give you a few more essential irregular preterates. These are the ones that don't play by the rules.

So again, learn them by ear as whole words. To do or to make. The preterate is Ise. I did, I made, I said. What did? What did you? What did you did? Meaning, what did you did?

To which you could respond. I said much a year. I did a lot yesterday. I said. The next is To have. You know, Tengo, Tienes, Tenemos.

The preterate is Tuve. I had. Tuve. So how would you say I had a problem? Tuve a problem. Or if you wanted to say, I was very lucky. I was very lucky.

Or literally, I had a lot of luck. Suerte being luck. Because in Spanish, luck is something you have. Duve much suerte. And moving on from that, we have ester. Estar to be, the temporary one. The preterate is estuve. I was

I was I'm I'm in the market this morning I was at the market this morning temporary right

I'm in the market this morning I'm in San Sebastian during two seven

I'm I'm in San San Sebastian Durante Dos Semanas I was in San Sebastian for two weeks Durante dos

Semanas for two weeks or during two weeks Now to make the preterate negative just add no at the start same as always So I didn't go to the market yesterday would be

No Fui Al Mercado Ayer No I didn't eat meat. No, comey carne. No, comey, carne. I didn't drink wine last night. No, I vevi vino anoche.

No, I, bevi, vino, a no. Anoche. A noche. Last night, very useful word. a noche same as night noche but just with an a before the noche a noce and well

to ask a question in the preterate same as always just change the intonation so if you wanted to ask somebody did you go to the market did you go to the market point your finger Did you eat well?

Comiste bien? What did you do last night? What did you do last night? Well, time to have a test. How do you say I ate? Comey. Comey. How about you drank?

Beviste. Beaviste. What a lot? about he ate. Comeo. How do you say they spoke? Ablaron. How do you say I arrived in San Sebastian?

Or I arrived to San Sebastian. Jagea to San Sebastian. Juehue a San Sebastian. What is the word for I went? It rhymes with me. I. Fui. And if you wanted to say, it was incredible.

Fue incredible. Fue incredible. How would you ask, what did you do yesterday? What did you do yesterday? What did you say? I had a lot of luck. Tuve much suerte. Tuve much suerte.

How did you tell your friend? I was at the market this morning. Estuve in the Mercado this morning. Estuve in El Mercado this

morning. How would you say I didn't drink wine last night? No, I did not be vino a no. Bebi

Vino a no just imagine after a feast with your friends and family. How would you ask the person next to you, did you eat well? Comiste bien? Comiste bien.

And that wraps up the test section. Very good. This is de very bien. Bueno. I'm still on this bench. The bay is completely flat. A couple of boats are moving slowly across the water. I'm very content here. I'm very happy here.

The food, the hike, the people, the sunsets. It was an experience incredible experience. Still is, actually. Still plenty more to do. And that reminds me, if you want to take your Spanish beyond just listening, I mean, if you want to start speaking, having real conversations and getting corrected in the moment, make sure to check out Fluency Builder. It's the immersive Spanish app, and inside it you have your own personal AI Spanish coach.

Their name is Rodrigo. Rodrigo will speak with you in Spanish. But not just that, but not just that. He will correct your mistakes and push you to use everything you're learning in these episodes. So, if that interests you, head to the immersive Spanish app and get started with Fluency Builder today. Bueno, Viejero, until la proxima. Ciao.