Hacer (to do) · Preterite
By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated
Hacer in the Spanish preterite (pretérito indefinido) is: yo hice, tú hiciste, él/ella/usted hizo, nosotros/as hicimos, vosotros/as hicisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes hicieron. The preterite of hacer describes a completed past action at a specific moment. The yo form 'hice' and the él/ella/usted form 'hizo' (with a 'z', not a 'c') are the two most-asked-about forms — both irregular.
| To Do | Hacer |
|---|---|
| I did | yo hice |
| you did | tú hiciste |
| he/she did | él/ella/usted hizo |
| we did | nosotros/as hicimos |
| you did | vosotros/as hicisteis |
| they did | ellos/ellas/ustedes hicieron |
Hacer (to do) in context
Sentences that use hacer in the preterite. Tap each to hear it.
I made dinner last night.
Did you make the restaurant reservation?
My father asked an interesting question.
We took a trip to the beach.
You did good teamwork.
The students took the exam yesterday.
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 hacer in the preterite?
Why is the él form 'hizo' spelled with 'z' instead of 'c'?
Should I use 'hice' (preterite) or 'hacía' (imperfect)?
Practice Hacer (To Do) in real conversations
TutorLily is your personal language tutor that catches every mistake gently and keeps the conversation going.
3-day free trial · Cancel anytime · 50+ languages
More tenses of Hacer (To Do)
More verbs in preterite
Get the app