Talking About Yesterday and Last Weekend in Spanish
Talking About Yesterday and Last Weekend in Spanish
In this lesson, you will begin talking about completed past events with a small set of ready-made forms. The goal is to say what happened, when it happened, and where it happened. You will not study full regular preterite conjugation tables yet; that begins in the next lesson.
Past-time expressions
- — yesterday
- — last night
- — last weekend
These expressions place an event in a finished past time.
Ayer — yesterday
Learn these complete past statements as useful models:
- — Yesterday I worked.
- — Yesterday I studied Spanish.
- — Yesterday I went to the supermarket.
- — Yesterday I ate in a restaurant.
For now, treat trabajé, estudié, fui, and comí as complete past forms. Their wider systems are taught later.
Anoche — last night
- — Last night I studied at home.
- — Last night I ate with Ana.
- — Last night I watched a movie.
For this lesson, — I saw / watched is a useful ready-made past form of ver.
El fin de semana pasado — last weekend
- — Last weekend I went to the park.
- — Last weekend I worked.
- — Last weekend I studied Spanish.
Say what, when, and where
A useful beginner past sentence can contain three pieces of information.
— Yesterday I studied Spanish at home.
What happened: — I studied Spanish.
When: — yesterday.
Where: — at home.
Another complete event
— Last night I ate in a restaurant with Carlos.
Finished past versus present routine
Compare:
- — I work every day.
- — Yesterday I worked.
- — I study Spanish in the afternoon.
- — Last night I studied Spanish.
The present sentences describe routines. The past sentences refer to completed events in a finished time.
Do not use the present just because the activity is familiar
If the intended meaning is a completed event yesterday, use the past model provided here.
— Yesterday I worked.
Ask about yesterday
Use this practical question:
— What did you do yesterday?
For this lesson, — What did you do yesterday? is a useful ready-made question. Detailed preterite forms of hacer come later.
Possible answer:
— Yesterday I worked and studied Spanish.
Ask about last night
— What did you do last night?
Possible answer:
— Last night I ate with Ana.
Ask about last weekend
— What did you do last weekend?
Possible answer:
— Last weekend I went to the park.
Short conversation
Person A: — What did you do yesterday?
Person B: — Yesterday I worked.
Person A: — Where?
Person B: — In an office.
A second conversation
Person A: — What did you do last night?
Person B: — Last night I watched a movie at home.
A short past sequence
— Yesterday I worked in the morning and studied Spanish in the afternoon.
This is a limited past sequence using ready-made forms. The next lesson will explain how regular past forms are built systematically.
A practical first-past method
- Choose a finished time expression such as , , or .
- Use one of the limited past forms introduced in this lesson.
- Add a familiar place if useful.
- Keep the event completed and clearly located in the past.
- Contrast the sentence with a present routine if you need to check the meaning.
- Do not infer a full conjugation rule from these few forms yet.
From Yesterday to the Regular Preterite
You can now mention simple completed events from yesterday or last weekend with a limited set of past forms. The next lesson teaches the regular Spanish preterite endings for completed events.
Spanish phrases
Ayer trabajé.
Yesterday I worked.
Ayer estudié español.
Yesterday I studied Spanish.
Ayer fui al supermercado.
Yesterday I went to the supermarket.
Ayer comí en un restaurante.
Yesterday I ate in a restaurant.
Anoche estudié en casa.
Last night I studied at home.
Anoche comí con Ana.
Last night I ate with Ana.
Anoche vi una película.
Last night I watched a movie.
El fin de semana pasado fui al parque.
Last weekend I went to the park.
El fin de semana pasado trabajé.
Last weekend I worked.
El fin de semana pasado estudié español.
Last weekend I studied Spanish.
Ayer estudié español en casa.
Yesterday I studied Spanish at home.
Anoche comí en un restaurante con Carlos.
Last night I ate in a restaurant with Carlos.
¿Qué hiciste ayer?
What did you do yesterday?
Ayer trabajé y estudié español.
Yesterday I worked and studied Spanish.
¿Qué hiciste anoche?
What did you do last night?
¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana pasado?
What did you do last weekend?
Ayer trabajé por la mañana y estudié español por la tarde.
Yesterday I worked in the morning and studied Spanish in the afternoon.