📖LearnModule 3 · Lesson 2 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, first halfUnit 1 · El pretérito — the past, part I
Ayer — time words for the past
Module 3 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A2, first half), lesson 2 of 30: The past needs its markers: ayer (yesterday), esta mañana (this morning), anoche (last night). On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
ayer
yesterday
ah-YEHR
esta mañana
this morning
EHS-tah mah-NYAH-nah
anoche
last night
ah-NOH-cheh
la semana pasada
last week
lah seh-MAH-nah pah-SAH-dah
el año pasado
last year
ehl AH-nyoh pah-SAH-doh
pasado
last (m)
pah-SAH-doh
pasada
last (f)
pah-SAH-dah
yo escribí una carta
I wrote a letter
yoh ehs-kree-BEE OO-nah KAR-tah
ayer yo viví un día feliz
yesterday I lived a happy day
ah-YEHR yoh bee-BEE oon DEE-ah feh-LEES
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
The past needs its markers: ayer (yesterday), esta mañana (this morning), anoche (last night), el fin de semana pasado (last weekend), la semana pasada (last week).
Y también · And also
Ayer viví un día feliz. Esta mañana escribí una carta. Pasado agrees like an adjective: el año pasado, la semana pasada. Say two true sentences about yesterday, out loud, every day this week.
Ojo · Watch out
pasado follows the noun and agrees: el año pasado, la semana pasada. And last night is anoche, one word — not ayer noche.
vivir, pretérito — the table
yo viví · tú viviste · él/ella/usted vivió · nosotros vivimos · ustedes vivieron · ellos/ellas vivieron
escribir, pretérito — the table
yo escribí · tú escribiste · él/ella/usted escribió · nosotros escribimos · ustedes escribieron · ellos/ellas escribieron
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with ayer.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out vivir, pretérito and escribir, pretérito in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.