Track 46

1. Three pasts: a line and a dot Overview

English has many ways to talk about the past, but they sort into three, and Spanish has exactly three forms to match.

The haber past you already know: I have eaten.
A line in the past: I was eating, I used to eat, I would eat every week when I was a child. All ongoing.
A dot in the past: I ate. Finished.

Note that English would can point at the past, not the future: I would go to the cinema every day when I was young. That belongs to the line.

2. The line in the past: -aba for -ar verbs Rule

Unlike the two futures, here you take the ending off first, then add. The -ar key sound is -aba, and it covers I, he, she, it and formal you together.

hablar → hablaba

hablaba
I / he / she was speaking, used to speak

hablabas
you were speaking

hablaban
they were speaking

hablábamos
we were speaking

The accent stays on the -aba throughout, including the "we" form.

Esperaba · Te esperaba · Lo esperaba · La esperaba · Lo esperábamos · Los esperábamos · Intentaba · Intentaban encontrarlo

3. The version after haber never changes Rule

Worth stating plainly: comido, bailado and the rest stay the same for every person. All the work happens in haber.

-ar → -ado · -er / -ir → -ido

He comido · He hablado · He bailado · Han bailado · Hemos bailado

The only time you add onto the full "to" form is with the two futures, will and would. Everywhere else you strip the ending first.

4. Stacking haber with other verbs Grammar

Once you stop translating been able and just ask for "poder after haber", these build easily.

He podido comer · No he podido comer · Habría salido · Habría podido salir · No habría podido salir

Asked for I would have gone out, the student took the whole sentence as one block and the -ía came out in the wrong place. Divide it: I would have is habría, full stop, and only then the rest.

5. Formal you in the past Grammar

A reminder that lo and la also cover formal you, which matters when the sentence has a person in it.

te esperaba

I was waiting for you (informal)

lo esperaba

I was waiting for you (formal)

Los esperábamos can be we were waiting for you guys or for them.

6. Two little words on a "to" form Grammar

Both can attach to the end of the "to" form, written as one word, personal one first.

Intentaban encontrármelo (they were trying to find me it)

If you want to emphasise the person instead, you can use the preposition the way English does.

Intentaban encontrarlo para mí

Mostly Spanish avoids the preposition, as you have been noticing. Reach for para mí when you actually want the emphasis.