Practice Makes Perfect Spanish Verb Tenses, Second ... - Ktooba.com

EJERCICIO
13·7
Traducción
VOCABULARIO la acera sidewalk
el bolsillo pocket
el cerrajero locksmith
la llave key
I was very sad last night. I had a horrible day at work. I was so bored! I arrived home at 10 P.M.
I know that I put my keys in my pocket, but I couldn’t fi nd them. I had to call a locksmith. He walked
to my house and didn’t arrive until midnight. I fell asleep on the sidewalk.
Ser and ir
Th e preterite conjugations for ser and ir are identical. But don’t worry—you’ll be able to tell by the
context which verb is required. Ser is used far less oft en than ir in the preterite.
ser to be ir to go
fui fuimos fui fuimos
fuiste fuisteis fuiste fuisteis
fue fueron fue fueron
Below are several example sentences using ser and ir in the preterite. Note that the conjugated
verb forms are identical in Spanish, but context and usage make clear that two diff erent verbs are
involved. Conjugated forms of ir are nearly always followed by the preposition a (“to”).
ser
Yo fui presidente del club por dos años. I was president of the club for two years.
Tú fuiste principal de la escuela por You were principal of the school for fi ve years.
cinco años.
Nelson Mandela fue prisionero político Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner
por veintisiete años. for twenty-seven years.
Nosotros fuimos universitarios por We were university students for four years.
cuatro años.
Fuisteis generales en el ejército por All of you were generals in the army for ten years.
diez años.
Ellos fueron jueces por cuarenta años. Th ey were judges for forty years.
120 practice makes perfect Spanish Verb Tenses