Perfect or Preterite – Free Exercise

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Exercises

Type in the verbs in the perfect tense.

  1. Ya (terminar/yo)   la carrera de periodismo.[I’ve completed my studies of journalism.]|presente of haber + participle|regular ar-verb → ado-participle
  2. ¿(Tú/ir)   al médico esta mañana?[Did you go to the doctor this morning?]|presente of haber + participle|ir → participle: ido
  3. Nosotros (apuntarse)   a tu clase de baile.[We registered for your dance class.]|reflexive pronoun + presente of haber + participle|regular ar-verb → ado-participle
  4. ¿(Hacer/vosotros)   el examen esta mañana?[Did you take the test this morning?]|presente of haber + participle|irregular participle form (hecho)
  5. A ellos les (gustar)   mucho la comida del restaurante.[They really enjoyed the meal at the restaurant.]|presente of haber + participle|regular ar-verb → ado-participle|To note: the subject is la comida, so we take the 3rd person singular conjugation

Type in the verbs in the preterite tense.

  1. Justo (llamar/ellos)   a la puerta mientras entraba en la ducha.[They rang the doorbell at the exact moment that I was getting into the shower.]|regular ar-verb
  2. El otro día (encontrarse/yo)   con Pedro por la calle.[The other day I encountered Pedro in the street.]|regular reflexive ar-verb – the reflexive pronoun comes before the verb
  3. Creo que no (estudiar/vosotros)   suficiente para el examen.[I think you haven’t studied enough for the exam.]|regular ar-verb
  4. Ayer Luis (conducir)   por primera vez un camión.[Yesterday Luis drove a truck for the first time.]|c → j
  5. La semana pasada (volver/nosostros)   de nuestras vacaciones.[Last week we returned from our holiday.]|irregular verb

Decide if the verbs should be in the perfect or preterite tense.

El mes pasado (inscribirse/yo)   en la secretaría de la universidad.[Last month I enrolled at the university offices.]|pretérito indefinido 1st person singular/signal words: el mes pasado Como no (recibir/yo)   ninguna confirmación, la semana pasada (llamar/yo)   por teléfono para ver si mi inscripción estaba en regla.[Since I didn’t receive any confirmation, I called them last week to see if my enrolment had been successful.]|pretérito indefinido 1st person singular/signal words: la semana pasada

«Entonces la secretaria (mirar)   en el registro y me (decir)  : “(introducir/yo)   en el ordenador tus datos y de momento tu nombre no (aparecer)  . ¿Estás seguro de que (registrarse)   correctamente? ”»[Then the secretary checked the registry and said to me: “I’ve entered your information into the computer and I haven’t seen your name come up yet. Are you sure you registered correctly?”]|1st/2nd/5th space: pretérito indefinido – the conversation took place last week/signal word: entonces|3rd/4th space: pretérito perfecto – the direct speech repeats exactly what the secretary said (at that time in the present tense) → she explains what has just happened

«Yo (responder)  : “Claro que sí. ¿No (encontrar/tú)   nadie en la lista con el apellido Rebollo?”»[I replied “Of course! Haven’t you found anyone in the list with the surname Rebollo?”]|1st space: pretérito indefinido – the conversation itself took place last week|2nd space: pretérito perfecto – the direct speech repeats exactly what the secretary said (at that time in the present tense)

«La secretaria (contestar)  : “No, sólo (ver)   alguien con el nombre de Alberto Repollo.[The secretary answered “No, I've only seen someone with the name Alberto Repollo.]|1st space: pretérito indefinido – introducing the conversation in the past|2nd space: pretérito perfecto – action that has just been completed Quizás aquel día (escribir/ellos)   mal tus datos en la base de datos. ¿Tú (nacer)   el 3 de marzo de 1989?”»[Maybe someone entered your information into the database incorrectly that day. Were you born on March 3rd, 1989?]|1st space: pretérito indefinido – action that took place longer ago (signal words: aquel día)|2nd space: both options (naciste and has nacido) are correct – it can be seen as a specific point in the past (pretérito indefinido) or the pretérito perfecto can be used, because the person mentioned is still alive.

Por fin (certificar/yo)   que se trataba de un error.[Finally I confirmed that it was all a mistake.]|pretérito indefinido – now we are talking about last week’s conversation again

«Ayer (comenzar/yo)   el curso en la universidad y (pensar)  : “Menos mal que antes de venir (ponerse/yo)   en contacto con la universidad y hoy no (tenerse/yo)   que quedar en casa.”»[ Yesterday I started my course at the university and I thought: “Luckily I got in touch with the university before I arrived, so I didn’t have to stay home today.”]|1st/2nd/3rd space: pretérito indefinido – a specific point in the past (signal words: ayer/antes)|4th space: pretérito perfecto – time period counts as the present (signal word: hoy)