Pretérito anterior in Spanish: Formation, usage and examples

The past preterite is a verb tense used in Spanish, although it is less common in everyday use and is mainly found in the literary and formal register. It is formed by combining the preterite perfect simple (preterite indefinite) of the verb "haber" in its preterite form and the past participle of the conjugated verb.

On this page you will find

»Formation of the preterite past tense in Spanish
»Conjugation of the preterite past tense
»Uses of the preterite past tense
»Examples of the Preterite Past Tense

The pretérito anterior in Spanish at a glance

Despite being a grammatical tense still existing in Spanish, the Pretérito Anterior has fallen into disuse and is not commonly used in everyday speech or in contemporary writing. It is important to note that, in its place, the Pluscuamperfecto de Indicativo, or Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto (había hablado, había comido, había vivido) fulfills the same function of describing actions that occurred before another past time in the past.

Historically, the Pretérito Anterior was used in the Spanish language to describe completed actions that occurred before another event in the past. It was formed by combining the preterite perfect simple (or preterite indefinite) of the verb "haber" and the past participle of the main verb.

Formation of the pretérito anterior in Spanish

To form the past preterite in Spanish you must take the following grammatical structure:

Subject + [preterite perfect simple of "haber"] + past participle of the conjugated verb.

Conjugation table

Pronombre personal	Verbo "haber"	Verbos terminados en -ar como hablar	Verbos terminados en -er como comer	Verbos terminados en -ir como vivir
Yo	hube	hablado	comido	vivido
Tú	hubiste	hablado	comido	vivido
Él / Ella / Usted	hubo	hablado	comido	vivido
Nosotros / Nosotras	hubimos	hablado	comido	vivido
Vosotros / Vosotras	hubisteis	hablado	comido	vivido
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes	hubieron	hablado	comido	vivido

Do you want to perfect your Spanish and take it to the next level?

Explore the world and improve your Spanish at the same time! Learn with Sprachcaffe in an international group and live the adventure of a lifetime in Malaga, Madrid, Barcelona or Havana!

More information

Uses of the past tense in Spanish

The use of the past preterite has declined greatly and it is important to keep in mind that, due to its literary nature, this verb tense is not frequently used in everyday speech, and in many contexts, the past perfect simple or the past perfect compound tense is preferred to express past actions.

The appropriate verb tense to express actions that occurred before another past event in the past is the Pluscuamperfect of Indicative (had spoken, had eaten, had lived). This verb tense is the one used in current Spanish to describe actions in the past of the past.

Examples of the pretérito anterior in Spanish

Hablar (verb -ar): I had talked to my friend before leaving.
Comer (verb -er): She had eaten after doing her homework.
Vivir (vivir -ir): You had lived for many years in Spain when I lived in Germany.