Comer (to eat) · Preterite
By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated
Comer in the Spanish preterite (pretérito indefinido) is: yo comí, tú comiste, él/ella/usted comió, nosotros/as comimos, vosotros/as comisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes comieron. The preterite of comer is the model regular -er preterite. The endings are -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Note the accents on 'comí' and 'comió'.
| To Eat | Comer |
|---|---|
| I ate | yo comí |
| you ate | tú comiste |
| he/she ate | él/ella/usted comió |
| we ate | nosotros/as comimos |
| you ate | vosotros/as comisteis |
| they ate | ellos/ellas/ustedes comieron |
Comer (to eat) in context
Sentences that use comer in the preterite. Tap each to hear it.
I ate too much last night.
What did you eat at the restaurant?
My father ate the last cookie.
We ate seafood on the coast.
You ate very well at that place.
The guests ate until they were full.
Working with the preterite
The preterite describes a finished past action with a clear boundary — "ayer comí pizza" (yesterday I ate pizza). The key contrast is with the imperfect, which describes ongoing or repeated past actions without a defined endpoint. If you can substitute "used to" or "was doing" in English, you usually want the imperfect; if the action is one-and-done, you want the preterite. The irregular preterites (fui, hice, dije, tuve, vine, supe) are the highest-frequency in Spanish — front-load them.
Frequently asked questions
How do you conjugate comer in the preterite?
Are the preterite endings the same for -er and -ir verbs?
When do I use 'comí' instead of 'comía'?
Practice Comer (To Eat) in real conversations
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