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Conjugation Chart of “Entretener” (to entertain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Entretener”

The preterite of entretener is used to express when someone entertained others at a specific moment in the past. For example, “The clown entertained the children at the party” – “El payaso entretuvo a los niños en la fiesta.”

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. Like other -tener verbs, it uses the stem ‘tuv-‘ throughout all conjugations.

How to Use Entretener in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of entretener expresses completed acts of entertaining or keeping occupied.

To entertain/amuse: Used for specific instances of providing entertainment, for example Entretuve a los niños toda la tarde (I entertained the children all afternoon).

To keep busy/occupied: Describes keeping someone engaged for a period, for example Lo entretuvo mientras preparábamos la sorpresa (She kept him busy while we prepared the surprise).

Real Life Examples of Entretener in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Entretuve a los niños durante horas. (I entertained the children for hours.)

El payaso entretuvo a todo el público. (The clown entertained the entire audience.)

¿Cómo entretuviste a los invitados? (How did you entertain the guests?)

Entretuvimos a la familia con juegos de mesa. (We entertained the family with board games.)

Los músicos entretuvieron a la multitud. (The musicians entertained the crowd.)

Me entretuve leyendo toda la tarde. (I kept myself entertained reading all afternoon.)

El show entretuvo a grandes y chicos. (The show entertained young and old alike.)

Entretuviste a todos con tus historias. (You entertained everyone with your stories.)

Nos entretuvimos con el nuevo videojuego. (We kept ourselves entertained with the new video game.)

Se entretuvieron dibujando hasta la cena. (They kept themselves entertained drawing until dinner.)

El mago entretuvo a los espectadores. (The magician entertained the spectators.)

Entretuve a mi hermano mientras esperábamos. (I kept my brother entertained while we waited.)

La película nos entretuvo muchísimo. (The movie entertained us greatly.)

Entretuvieron al bebé con canciones. (They entertained the baby with songs.)

Te entretuviste demasiado en el camino. (You got too distracted on the way.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Entretener (to entertain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.