Past Tense (Preterite): Top 20 Verbs – Spanish Conjugation Quiz
Pretérito de los 20 verbos más usados – Práctica de conjugación
The preterite tells what happened: fui (I went), comí (I ate). This quiz drills the two forms you use most, yo and él / ella / usted, for the twenty most frequent verbs—first the irregular ones that must simply be memorized, then regular examples that show the endings. Practice 42 forms with the full quiz or mini-quizzes of 10; typing mode is recommended.
Regular preterite endings
| -ar (hablar) | -er / -ir (comer, vivir) | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hablé | comí, viví |
| tú | hablaste | comiste |
| él / ella / usted | habló | comió |
| nosotros | hablamos | comimos |
| ellos / ustedes | hablaron | comieron |
Irregular stems (no accents on the endings): tuv- (tener), hic- / hiz- (hacer), dij- (decir), pud- (poder), pus- (poner), estuv- (estar), sup- (saber), quis- (querer), vin- (venir). Ser and ir share the same forms: fui, fue. Spelling changes keep the sound: llegué, empecé.
First time? Read the instructions
| # | English | Spanish |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I was / I went (ser, ir) | fui |
| 2 | he/she was / went (ser, ir) | fue |
| 3 | I had (tener) | tuve |
| 4 | he/she had (tener) | tuvo |
| 5 | I did, I made (hacer) | hice |
| 6 | he/she did, made (hacer) | hizo |
| 7 | I said (decir) | dije |
| 8 | he/she said (decir) | dijo |
| 9 | I could, I was able to (poder) | pude |
| 10 | he/she could (poder) | pudo |
| 11 | I put (poner) | puse |
| 12 | he/she put (poner) | puso |
| 13 | I was (estar) | estuve |
| 14 | he/she was (estar) | estuvo |
| 15 | I found out, I knew (saber) | supe |
| 16 | he/she found out (saber) | supo |
| 17 | I wanted (querer) | quise |
| 18 | he/she wanted (querer) | quiso |
| 19 | I came (venir) | vine |
| 20 | he/she came (venir) | vino |
| 21 | I gave (dar) | di |
| 22 | he/she gave (dar) | dio |
| 23 | I saw (ver) | vi |
| 24 | he/she saw (ver) | vio |
| 25 | I spoke (hablar) | hablé |
| 26 | he/she spoke (hablar) | habló |
| 27 | I ate (comer) | comí |
| 28 | he/she ate (comer) | comió |
| 29 | I lived (vivir) | viví |
| 30 | he/she lived (vivir) | vivió |
| 31 | I bought (comprar) | compré |
| 32 | he/she bought (comprar) | compró |
| 33 | I left, I went out (salir) | salí |
| 34 | he/she left (salir) | salió |
| 35 | I arrived (llegar) | llegué |
| 36 | he/she arrived (llegar) | llegó |
| 37 | I worked (trabajar) | trabajé |
| 38 | he/she worked (trabajar) | trabajó |
| 39 | I started (empezar) | empecé |
| 40 | he/she started (empezar) | empezó |
| 41 | I went to bed (acostarse) | me acosté |
| 42 | he/she went to bed (acostarse) | se acostó |
Frequently asked questions
- How many words are in this quiz?
- This quiz has 42 English–Spanish word pairs, with two-way practice (English → Spanish and Spanish → English) and mini-quizzes.