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Spanish Grammar on Repeat
A2Song 01Elementary3:01

Spanish Past Tense Song: Regular Verbs

Hablé, Habló

Learn the Spanish past tense (the pretérito) of regular verbs in one song. -ar verbs end in -é and -ó, -er and -ir verbs in -í and -ió, and the accent is what makes it past: hablo is now, habló is done.

InfinitiveYo (I)Él / ella (he / she)13 verbs in 3 groups

Also on YouTube. The singing voice is AI-generated; Sol is an animated character.

Lyrics · click a line to play it

¡Pretérito regular, vamos!The regular past tense, let's go!

Uno, dos, tres: hablé, comí,one, two, three: I talked, I ate,

hablo es hoy, habló ya pasó,hablo is now, habló is done,

¡un acento lo cambia todo, ya ves!one little accent changes it all!

The accent marks the past: hablo is now, habló is done

Hablar, hablé, habló, llamar, llamé, llamó,I talked, he talked, I called, he called,

cenar, cené, cenó, comprar, compré, compró,I dined, he dined, I bought, he bought,

trabajar, trabajé, trabajó,I worked, he worked the whole day long,

Ayer trabajé y cené con Ana,yesterday I worked, then dined with Ana,

Uno, dos, tres: hablé, comí,one, two, three: I talked, I ate,

hablo es hoy, habló ya pasó,hablo is now, habló is done,

¡un acento lo cambia todo, ya ves!one little accent changes it all!

Verse 2 · Los verbos en -er e -ir

1:44: play Verse 2 · Los verbos en -er e -ir

comer → comí, comió · vivir → viví, vivió

Comer, comí, comió, beber, bebí, bebió,I ate, he ate, I drank, he drank,

vivir, viví, vivió, salir, salí, salió,I lived, he lived, I left, he left,

escribir, escribí, escribió,I wrote it down, and he wrote too,

Anoche comí en casa de Luis,last night I ate at Luis's place,

In yo the spelling changes, the sound stays: llegué, busqué, empecé

Llegar, llegué, llegó, buscar, busqué, buscó,I arrived, he arrived, I looked, he looked,

empezar, empecé, empezó,I started and he started too,

Uno, dos, tres: hablé, comí,one, two, three: I talked, I ate,

hablo es hoy, habló ya pasó,hablo is now, habló is done,

¡un acento lo cambia todo, ya ves!one little accent changes it all!

The verbs

All 13 verbs, in groups

The song sings the verbs in groups that follow one pattern, so you learn the pattern once and use it for every verb. The underlined part is what the group shares.

Practice

Test yourself

Yo (I) or él (he)? Read what the line means, then choose the form that fits.

  1. 1.Ayer y cené con Ana.

    Yesterday I worked, then dined with Ana.

  2. 2.Ayer trabajé y con Ana.

    Yesterday I worked, then dined with Ana.

  3. 3.Anoche en casa de Luis.

    Last night I ate at Luis's place.

  4. 4.Uno, dos, tres: , comí.

    One, two, three: I talked, I ate.

  5. 5.Comer, comí, , beber, bebí, bebió.

    I ate, he ate, I drank, he drank.

  6. 6.Llegar, , llegó, buscar, busqué, buscó.

    I arrived, he arrived, I looked, he looked.

  7. 7.Empezar, , empezó.

    I started and he started too.

0 of 7 answered

More practice with this songHear Sol sing a line, type the missing words, then check the answers and explanations.Spanish Past Tense: Regular Verbs exercises

Your turn

Write one sentence about yesterday with a verb from the song

For example: «Ayer trabajé y cené con Ana.»

Answer in the YouTube comments

Keep singing