The preterite of contar is used to express when someone counted something or told a story at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I told them the whole story yesterday” – “Les conté toda la historia ayer.”

This verb follows the regular -ar conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. It’s a straightforward verb that maintains its stem throughout all conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Contar (to count/tell) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of contar expresses completed acts of counting or telling.

To count: Describes completing a count, for example Conté hasta cien (I counted to one hundred), or Contaron el dinero (They counted the money).

To tell/narrate: Indicates relating a story or information, for example Me contó toda la verdad (She told me the whole truth).

Examples

Examples of Contar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Conté toda la verdad a mis padres. (I told the whole truth to my parents.)

El abuelo nos contó historias de su juventud. (Grandfather told us stories from his youth.)

¿Le contaste sobre el accidente? (Did you tell him/her about the accident?)

Contamos el dinero antes de salir. (We counted the money before leaving.)

Los niños contaron hasta cien. (The children counted to one hundred.)

Me contó un secreto importante. (He/she told me an important secret.)

Contaste los votos correctamente. (You counted the votes correctly.)

El testigo contó lo que vio. (The witness told what they saw.)

Contamos con su ayuda ayer. (We relied on their help yesterday.)

Los periodistas contaron la historia real. (The journalists told the real story.)

Conté las páginas del libro. (I counted the pages of the book.)

¿Quién te contó eso? (Who told you that?)

Contaron las estrellas esa noche. (They counted the stars that night.)

Le contaste nuestros planes. (You told him/her our plans.)

El profesor contó los estudiantes presentes. (The teacher counted the students present.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Contar (to count/tell) in the Preterite (Past) Tense 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.