The preterite is used for past actions that are seen as completed.
To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:
| yo | é |
| tú | aste |
| él | ó |
| nosotros | amos |
| vosotros | asteis |
| ellos | aron |
To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following:
| yo | í |
| tú | iste |
| él | ió |
| nosotros | imos |
| vosotros | isteis |
| ellos | ieron |
Here are all three regular preterite verb forms together:
| Hablar | Comer | Vivir |
| hablé | comí | viví |
| hablaste | comiste | viviste |
| habló | comió | vivió |
| hablamos | comimos | vivimos |
| hablasteis | comisteis | vivisteis |
| hablaron | comieron | vivieron |
Note: the nosotros forms for -ar and -ir verbs are the same in both preterite and present tenses: hablamos, vivimos.