Preterite Past Tense Medical Spanish Verbs

You don’t get too far in a conversation before you start using the past tense in clinical conversations. Patients are telling their stories about how they ended up in front of you today, and you’re asking a variety of questions around what happened, what they did, etc.

So today’s lesson is on the first past tense in Spanish that most people learn. It’s called the Preterite past tense, and we use it in Spanish to communicate actions and events in the past.

Here is the lesson I taught for Video Viernes this week on the Preterite Past Tense in Spanish:

SPICY Acronym for when to use the Preterite Past Tense in Spanish:

S: Specific actions completed in the past

• Julia comió 3 comidas ayer.

P: Past actions and events that occurred 1x

• Su papá sufrió un ataque de corazón el año pasado

I: Interrupting actions: 

• La familia hablaba y de repente el teléfono sonó.

C: Completed actions (not ongoing) in the past

• El paciente recibió su primera dosis de quimioterapia en julio.

Y: Yesterday & other preterite triggers

• Ayer mis hijas recibieron su vacuna contra el VPH

How to conjugate Preterite past tense verbs in Spanish:

Practice your Preterite Past Tense conjugations (answers at bottom of post):

1. La doctora ________ (llegar) a la clínica a las 6am.
2. Ayer nosotros ____________ (comer) el desayuno juntos.
3. Tú ________ (trabajar) muchas horas la semana pasada.
4. Ustedes ___________ (recibir) los resultados muy rápido.
5. Yo ________ (perder) peso el mes pasado.
6. Él ________ (sufrir) un ataque de corazón anoche. 
7. Julia ________ (comer) tres comidas ayer.
8. Ayer sus hijas ________ (hablar) con la médica sobre la vacuna contra el VPH.
9. Yo caminaba y de repente yo ________ (sentir) un dolor fuerte en la cintura

Para conversar con su compañero:

Talk about something that happened this past week, last month, last year, etc. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Piensa en un paciente muy interesante…
  • ¿Por qué es tan interesante? 
  • ¿Qué pasó durante sus interacciones? 
  • ¿Qué resultado tuvo el paciente?
• ¿Qué pasó durante su primer mes / año de trabajo en salud que ahora parece gracioso? … 

Learn 90 Clinical Verbs in Spanish:

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Want to learn more about Medical Spanish Preterite Past Tense Verbs?

Answers to preterite practice activity: 1. llegó, 2. comimos, 3. trabajaste, 4. recibieron, 5. perdí, 6. sufrió, 7. comió, 8. hablaron, 9. sentí