Spanish Past Made Simple (A2/B1 Course)

Spanish with Latin ELE
Spanish with Latin ELE
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Aprendizaje de idiomas
  • Serie completa

Struggling to tell your Spanish STORIES and ANECDOTES in the PAST? Maybe you want to share what you did last weekend, describe the last movie you watched, or tell a crazy story… but the past tense in español still feels confusing. If that sounds like you, Spanish Past Made Simple is exactly what you need. This course, designed for upper‑beginners and beyond, takes a hands‑on, practical approach. You’ll learn how to ⬇️ ✅ Use pretérito, imperfecto, and pretérito perfecto and understand when each one applies ✅ Organize your stories with natural connectors for smoother, clearer transitions ✅ Use time expressions that help listeners follow your narrative effortlessly And you'll learn all this through FUN, SIMPLE STORIES in every unit that show how the past tenses work in context. Ready? ¡Vamos!

LATIN ELE PREMIUM

Unlock extra episodes to boost your Spanish

$199.00/mes o $1,499.00/año después de la prueba

Temporada 1

  1. Episodio 1 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 1: Weekend Adventures (Preterite Regular Verbs)

    Ready to start speaking en pasado? We kick off this course with your first deep dive into el pretérito. This tense is also known as pretérito indefinido, pretérito simple, or pretérito absoluto—so whenever you hear “el pretérito”, we’re talking about all of these. In this episode, you’ll listen to a dialogue between two native speakers chatting about what they did last weekend (el finde). After that, I’ll guide you through a clear breakdown of how Spanish verbs work when telling stories in the past. Listos para empezar a hablar del pasado con confianza. ¡Vamos! More content to practice el pasado at Latin ELE ⬇️ https://latinele.com/stories-to-explore-past-tenses-in-spanish/ ¡Nos vemos en la siguiente lección! Marco

  2. Episodio 2 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 2: Practicing the Preterite with Regular Verbs

    In this lesson, you’ll review and practice how regular Spanish verbs work in the preterite tense. Verbs ending in ‑ar 👇 Example verb: bailar • yo bailé • tú bailaste • él / ella bailó • nosotros / nosotras bailamos • ellos / ellas / ustedes bailaron Verbs ending in ‑er 👇 Example verb: comer • yo comí • tú comiste • él / ella comió • nosotros / nosotras comimos • ellos / ellas / ustedes comieron Verbs ending in ‑ir 👇 Example verb: escribir • yo escribí • tú escribiste • él / ella escribió • nosotros / nosotras escribimos • ellos / ellas / ustedes escribieron Tip: Regular ‑er and ‑ir verbs share the same endings in the preterite. In the episode, you hear a pronoun + a verb. Your job is to say the correct conjugation before the answer is revealed. 📚 More regular verbs for you to practice. Pick a verb, pick a pronoun, and practice conjugating them. AR= cocinar, escuchar, mirar, ayudar, terminar ER = leer, beber, prometer, comprender, meter IR = asistir, admitir, insistir, existir, consumir Conjugation takes repetition. Listen to this lesson as many times as you need until the endings start to feel natural. Nos vemos en la siguiente lección.

  3. Episodio 3 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 3: New Year Celebration 🎉 (Regular Verb Listening Comprehension)

    💬 In this lesson, you’ll practice understanding regular verbs in the preterite through a short conversation between two amigos. The dialogue is entirely in the past tense and uses only regular verbs, giving you focused listening practice without irregular forms getting in the way. You’ll hear Marco describe how he celebrated Año Nuevo, using first‑person forms like yo visité, cenamos, bebimos, and bailamos. After listening, you’ll answer three comprehension questions—this time switching to third person because you’re talking about Marco and his family. Comprehension Questions ⬇️ 1. ¿Dónde celebró Marco el Año Nuevo? 2. ¿Qué cenaron Marco y su familia antes de la medianoche? 3. ¿Qué pasó luego de la medianoche? This lesson is all about listening, recognizing patterns, and building confidence with regular verbs in the past. If you need more practice, replay the audio as many times as you want. Repetition is key. 📝 Dialogue Transcript: ¿Dónde celebraste el Año Nuevo, Marco? Ese día visité la casa de mis padres. Celebramos con toda la familia. Hablé con mis primos, mis tías y mis sobrinos. Antes de la medianoche, cenamos todos juntos en la mesa. Comimos pollo asado con arroz, ensaladas y el postre de la abuela. A la medianoche, todos nos deseamos un buen año nuevo. Bebimos champaña y luego bailamos. La pasamos muy bien. Siempre es divertido celebrar con la familia. ¡Nos vemos en la siguiente lección! Marco

  4. Episodio 4 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 4: Using the Preterite to Evaluate Experiences

    💬 In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the preterite to talk about and evaluate specific past experiences. Things like the last time you went to the movies, a recent trip, or a memorable event with amigos. You’ll also get your first look at irregular verbs in the preterite. To practice, you’ll listen to a short dialogue between Jessy and Marco about the last time he went to the cinema 🎦 The conversation includes both regular and irregular verbs, giving you natural examples of how Spanish speakers describe past experiences. 📝 Dialogue transcript Jessy: Así que fuiste al cine a ver la nueva película de Tarantino. ¿Qué te pareció? Marco: Muy buena. Tarantino hace las mejores películas. Me gustó muchísimo. Jessy: ¿Fuiste solo? Marco: Sí, fui solo. Nadie quiso acompañarme. Pero está bien. Fue divertido. Jessy: ¿Y qué hiciste después? Marco: Fui a comer algo. Estar dos horas en la sala de cine me dio mucha hambre. Así que pasé por algo de comida. Using the Preterite to Evaluate Experiences 👍 When you give your opinion about a specific event, Spanish uses the preterite. In the dialogue, Marco evaluates the movie using expressions like: • Me gustó muchísimo: I liked it very much • Me gustó un montón: I liked it a lot • Me encantó: I loved it • Me fascinó: I really loved it • Fue increíble: It was incredible To say you didn’t like something: • No me gustó: I didn’t like it • No me gustó nada: I didn’t like it at all All of these forms are in the preterite, because they describe one specific experience. 📚 First Look at Irregular Verbs This lesson also introduces a few irregular verbs: • ir — fui, fuiste, fue… • ser — fui, fuiste, fue… • hacer — hice, hiciste, hizo… Irregular verbs don’t follow the regular patterns you learned earlier. For example, Jessy asks: ¿Qué hiciste después? (What did you do after that?) The form hiciste is irregular 👉 the stem changes from ha‑ to hi‑. That’s why it’s not haciste. You’ll learn more irregular verbs in the upcoming lessons. 📖 More content to learn Spanish at Latin ELE https://latinele.com/ ¡Nos vemos en la siguiente lección! Marco

  5. Episodio 5 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 5: Stem‑Changing Irregular Verbs in the Preterite

    In this lesson, you’ll explore your first group of irregular verbs in the preterite: stem‑changing irregular verbs. Verbs whose base (stem) changes before adding the irregular endings. This lesson builds directly on the movie‑theater dialogue from Lesson 4, where you heard forms like quise, fui, and hice. Now you’ll learn why these verbs look different and how to use them correctly. 📚 What Are Stem‑Changing Irregular Verbs? Stem‑changing irregular verbs are verbs whose root changes in the preterite. Instead of following the regular patterns, they switch to a new stem and then use a special set of endings: • yo -e • tú -iste • él/ella -o • nosotros -imos • ellos/ellas -ieron These endings are the same for all stem‑changing irregular verbs, no matter if the verb ends in ‑ar, ‑er, or ‑ir. 📝 Verbs Covered in the Lesson Querer → quis‑ • quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisieron Example: Nadie quiso acompañarme al cine. Venir → vin‑ • vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinieron Example: ¿A qué viniste hoy a este episodio? Tener → tuv‑ • tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvieron Example: ¿Tuviste muchas lecciones de español en la escuela? Estar → estuv‑ • estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvieron Example: ¿Dónde estuviste ayer? All of these verbs change their stem and use the same irregular endings. Additional Stem‑Changing Verbs to Practice 👇 Here are more common stem‑changing irregular verbs you can use to build your own sentences: • andar → anduv‑ (anduve, anduviste…) • poder → pud‑ (pude, pudiste…) • poner → pus‑ (puse, pusiste…) • saber → sup‑ (supe, supiste…) • hacer → hic‑ (hice, hiciste…) • haber → hub‑ (hubo) • caber → cup‑ (cupe, cupiste…) All of these follow the same endings you learned in this lesson. 💬 Try creating short sentences with each one, for example: Ayer supe la noticia. No pude ir al trabajo. Anduve por el centro de la ciudad. Short, simple, and effective. 📖 More content to learn Spanish at Latin ELE https://latinele.com/ ¡Hasta la próxima! Marco

  6. Episodio 6 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 6: Third‑Person Irregular Verbs in the Preterite

    In this lesson, you learned about a special group of irregular verbs in the preterite: verbs that are only irregular in the third person (él/ella, ellos/ellas). These verbs behave regularly in the first and second person, but change their stem or spelling only when referring to someone else. Key Pattern 👇 • yo - regular • tú - regular • él/ella/usted - irregular • nosotros - regular • ellos/ellas/ustedes - irregular This group includes many ‑ir verbs, plus a few ‑er verbs with spelling changes. 📝 Verbs Covered in the Lesson Dormir → durmió / durmieron • dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, durmieron Pedir → pidió / pidieron • pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pidieron Leer → leyó / leyeron • leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leyeron These changes help maintain pronunciation and follow natural sound patterns in Spanish. 📘 Additional Verbs in This Category Use these verbs to continue practicing the third‑person irregular forms. They follow the same idea: regular in most forms, irregular in él/ella and ellos/ellas. 📕 More ‑ir Verbs • preferir → prefirió / prefirieron • sentir → sintió / sintieron • servir → sirvió / sirvieron • mentir → mintió / mintieron • repetir → repitió / repitieron • seguir → siguió / siguieron • conseguir → consiguió / consiguieron • vestir → vistió / vistieron 📘More spelling‑change ‑er / ‑ir verbs These change i → y in the third person: • creer → creyó / creyeron • oír → oyó / oyeron • caer → cayó / cayeron • construir → construyó / construyeron • incluir → incluyó / incluyeron 📝 Practice Tips To master these verbs: ✅ Create short, simple sentences using él/ella and ellos/ellas. ✅ Focus on hearing the sound change: durmió, pidió, leyó. ✅ Compare regular vs. irregular forms to see the contrast. Example practice sentences: • Mi hermano durmió toda la tarde. • Ellos pidieron comida mexicana. • Ella leyó un libro muy interesante. • Los estudiantes prefirieron estudiar en grupo. 📚More stories to practice past tenses at Latin ELE https://latinele.com/stories-to-explore-past-tenses-in-spanish/ ¡Hasta la próxima! Marco

  7. Episodio 7 • Sólo para personas con suscripción

    Unit 1 - Lesson 7: The confusing Verbs Ir and Ser in Preterite

    n this lesson, you'll learn one of the most confusing topics in the Spanish preterite: the verbs ir (to go) and ser (to be). Why are they confusing? Because they share exactly the same conjugation 👇 fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron So how do Spanish speakers tell them apart? The answer is simple: context. When the verb refers to movement or a destination, it's usually ir: Fui al supermercado. Fuimos a un restaurante local. Fueron a la playa. When the verb describes a person, thing, event, or experience, it's usually ser: La película fue genial. Ese día fue terrible. Agatha Christie fue una gran escritora. In this lesson, you'll learn a simple trick to identify which verb is being used and practice with several real-life examples. As always, if something isn't clear yet, listen again. Every repetition helps these patterns become more natural. Nos vemos en la siguiente lección. 📚 More content to learn Spanish on Latin ELE https://latinele.com/ Marco

  8. Tráiler de la temporada 1

    Trailer: Learn Spanish Past Tenses

    Still confused about past tenses en español? 🤔 In this episode you'll learn what Spanish Past Made Simple is all about. An easy-to-follow course for upper-beginners learners and up. All contents related to past are learned in context, and lots of examples are provided to help you better understand how el pasado works en español. Ready for this? ¡Vamos! 📚 Need more stories to practice los pasados? Get our FREE Stories to Explore Past Tenses ⬇️ https://latinele.com/stories-to-explore-past-tenses-in-spanish/ 🖥️ Prefer the on-demand video course? You can get Spanish Past Made Simple here ⬇️ https://latinele.uteach.io/courses/spanish-past-tense ¡Que te diviertas! Marco

Tráiler

Programas con beneficios por suscripción

LATIN ELE PREMIUM

Unlock extra episodes to boost your Spanish

$199.00/mes o $1,499.00/año después de la prueba

Ver las preguntas frecuentes sobre la suscripción

Acerca de

Struggling to tell your Spanish STORIES and ANECDOTES in the PAST? Maybe you want to share what you did last weekend, describe the last movie you watched, or tell a crazy story… but the past tense in español still feels confusing. If that sounds like you, Spanish Past Made Simple is exactly what you need. This course, designed for upper‑beginners and beyond, takes a hands‑on, practical approach. You’ll learn how to ⬇️ ✅ Use pretérito, imperfecto, and pretérito perfecto and understand when each one applies ✅ Organize your stories with natural connectors for smoother, clearer transitions ✅ Use time expressions that help listeners follow your narrative effortlessly And you'll learn all this through FUN, SIMPLE STORIES in every unit that show how the past tenses work in context. Ready? ¡Vamos!

Información

Más de Spanish with Latin ELE