The preterite of llover is used to express that it rained at a specific time in the past. For example, you might say “It rained yesterday morning,” indicating a completed instance of rainfall. While typically impersonal, it can be used metaphorically, as in “criticisms rained down.”

This is a regular -er verb that primarily uses the third-person singular form (llovió). However, all forms exist for metaphorical usage, following regular -er verb patterns.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Llover (to rain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of llover expresses completed instances of rain. Weather Event: Describes a specific instance of rainfall that has ended, for example, llovió toda la mañana (it rained all morning). Metaphorical Rain: Used figuratively to describe things coming down abundantly, for example, llovieron críticas (criticisms rained down). Sudden Downpour: Describes a sudden or intense rainfall that occurred, for example, llovió fuertemente por una hora (it rained heavily for an hour).

Examples

Examples of Llover in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Llovió toda la noche sin parar. (It rained all night without stopping.)

Llovieron críticas sobre el nuevo proyecto. (Criticisms rained down on the new project.)

Llovió tanto que se inundó la calle. (It rained so much that the street flooded.)

Llovieron regalos en su fiesta de cumpleaños. (Gifts rained down at their birthday party.)

No llovió en todo el verano. (It didn’t rain all summer.)

Llovieron ofertas de trabajo después de su graduación. (Job offers rained down after their graduation.)

Llovió durante el partido de fútbol. (It rained during the soccer game.)

Llovieron pétalos durante la ceremonia. (Petals rained down during the ceremony.)

Ayer llovió a cántaros. (Yesterday it rained cats and dogs.)

Llovieron aplausos al final del concierto. (Applause rained down at the end of the concert.)

Llovió por primera vez en meses. (It rained for the first time in months.)

Llovieron felicitaciones después del anuncio. (Congratulations rained down after the announcement.)

No llovió como predijo el pronóstico. (It didn’t rain as the forecast predicted.)

Llovieron preguntas durante la conferencia. (Questions rained down during the conference.)

Llovió justo después del picnic. (It rained right after the picnic.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Llover (to rain) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian 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.