01 · The word that sets it up
Ayer estudié mucho.
Yesterday I studied a lot.
Ayer out front tells the listener you're in the past before the verb even lands — no need to overthink the ending.
andbefluent.com/spanish/yesterday
Yesterday
Tell someone what you did yesterday — the past tense, spoken in real conversation.
The preterite is the tense for completed past events — what you did yesterday, last night, last week. Regular -AR verbs take -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron (hablé, hablaste, habló); -ER and -IR verbs share -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron (comí, vivió, comieron) — and the written accents are not decoration, because hablé (I spoke) and habló (she spoke) are different people, while hablo is the present. Three spelling changes hit only the yo form: -car → busqué, -gar → llegué, -zar → empecé. Anchor it all with time markers: ayer, anoche, la semana pasada, hace dos días.
Below: the endings in real sentences, what locals actually say (chambeé, la pasé bárbaro), the slips that expose learners — and a way to practice by telling Carla about your day, not by conjugating tables.
The warm-up pack
How you'll actually tell someone what you did yesterday.
01 · The word that sets it up
Ayer estudié mucho.
Yesterday I studied a lot.
Ayer out front tells the listener you're in the past before the verb even lands — no need to overthink the ending.
02 · The -AR yo ending
Yo hablé con mi mamá ayer.
I talked to my mom yesterday.
That accent on hablé isn't decoration — without it, hablo is the present. The mark is what carries the meaning.
03 · Asking someone else
¿Tú hablaste con el profesor?
Did you talk to the teacher?
One word, no "did" needed — Spanish folds the question into the ending itself.
04 · The -ER yo ending
Yo comí pizza anoche.
I ate pizza last night.
-ER and -IR verbs share this ending, so once comí feels natural, vivir and salir follow the same shape.
05 · Asking with an -IR verb
¿Tú viviste en España?
Did you live in Spain?
Same question shape as hablaste, just the -ER/-IR ending instead. Two patterns cover almost every regular verb.
06 · The spelling shift you'll actually use
Busqué mis llaves por toda la casa.
I looked for my keys all over the house.
Buscar needs qu, not c, in the yo form — purely a spelling fix so the hard sound survives. Everyone says this one eventually.
07 · Another one
Llegué tarde a clase.
I arrived late to class.
Llegar takes gué here, not gé — same idea, keeping the sound of the verb intact through the ending change.
08 · And the third
Empecé un curso nuevo ayer.
I started a new course yesterday.
Empezar swaps z for c in the yo form. That's all three spelling changes — -car, -gar, -zar — and they only ever touch this one form.
09 · The question people actually ask
¿Qué comiste? — Comí una ensalada.
What did you eat? — I had a salad.
This is the real shape a conversation takes — someone asks, you answer in the same tense, no rehearsal needed.
10 · Saying it didn't happen
No estudié para el examen.
I didn't study for the exam.
No slots in front exactly where you'd expect — nothing extra to learn to make the preterite negative.
11 · Telling it in order
Primero desayuné, luego salí.
First I had breakfast, then I left.
Primero and luego turn a list of preterite verbs into an actual story someone can follow — this is how you'll really use this tense.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/yesterdayRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
Nothing here is memorized in isolation — in the Yesterday lessons the past tense shows up the way it does in life: someone asks about your day. Carla has you walk through yesterday in order — primero desayuné, luego salí, después caminé al parque — then fires the questions people actually ask: ¿qué comiste?, and you answer comí una ensalada. When a busqué or a llegué comes out wrong, she catches it in the flow — no red ink, no drills, just another chance to say it right.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Yesterday is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
-AR verbs: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron (hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablaron). -ER and -IR verbs share one set: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron (comí, viviste, comió, vivimos, comieron).
The u keeps the g sounding hard. It's a yo-form-only spelling change: -gar → llegué, pagué; -car → busqué, toqué; -zar → empecé, almorcé. Every other person of those verbs is completely regular.
The preterite is for completed, one-time events: hablé con mi mamá ayer — it happened, it's done. The imperfect is for habits, descriptions, and background. Did = preterite; used to do / was doing = imperfect.
Ayer and anoche: ayer estudié mucho, anoche miré una película. Also useful: la semana pasada (last week), el año pasado (last year), hace dos días (two days ago). In Mexico you'll often hear ayer en la noche instead of anoche.
Both — the nosotros form of -AR verbs is identical in the present and the preterite. A time marker settles it instantly: ayer hablamos can only be the past.