The preterite of caer is used to express when someone or something fell at a specific moment in the past. For example, you might say “I fell off my bike yesterday,” indicating a completed action.

This is an e to y stem-changing verb in the preterite, which means it changes ‘e’ to ‘y’ in the third person singular and plural forms, creating an irregular pattern in these specific conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Caer (to fall) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of caer describes a completed action of falling or dropping in the past.

To fall: Describes physical falling, for example Se cayó de la bicicleta (He/she fell from the bicycle) or El libro se cayó del estante (The book fell from the shelf).

To drop/collapse: Used for sudden drops or collapses, for example Cayó la noche (Night fell) or Cayó el gobierno (The government fell).

To be received: Describes how something or someone is received by others, for example La noticia cayó como una bomba (The news fell like a bomb).

Examples

Examples of Caer in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me caí en la calle ayer. (I fell on the street yesterday.)

¿Te caíste de la bicicleta? (Did you fall from the bicycle?)

La lluvia cayó toda la noche. (The rain fell all night.)

Nos caímos en el hielo. (We fell on the ice.)

Las hojas cayeron de los árboles. (The leaves fell from the trees.)

Me caí por las escaleras. (I fell down the stairs.)

¿Cómo te caíste? (How did you fall?)

El libro se me cayó al suelo. (The book fell to the floor.)

Nos caímos en el barro. (We fell in the mud.)

Los precios cayeron drásticamente. (The prices fell drastically.)

Me caí de la cama. (I fell out of bed.)

¿Te caíste durante el partido? (Did you fall during the game?)

La nieve cayó suavemente. (The snow fell softly.)

Nos caímos al tropezar. (We fell when we tripped.)

Las estrellas cayeron del cielo. (The stars fell from the sky.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Caer (to fall) 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.