The preterite of hablar is used to express when you spoke about something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I spoke with my mother yesterday” – “Hablé con mi madre ayer.”

This verb follows the regular -ar conjugation pattern in the preterite tense. It serves as a model verb for learning regular -ar conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Hablar (to speak) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of hablar expresses completed instances of speaking or talking.

To speak/talk: Used for completed conversations, for example Hablé con mi madre por teléfono (I spoke with my mother on the phone), or Hablaron durante dos horas (They talked for two hours).

To give a speech: Describes delivering a presentation, for example El presidente habló ante la nación (The president spoke to the nation).

Examples

Examples of Hablar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Hablé con mi jefe sobre el aumento. (I spoke with my boss about the raise.)

¿Hablaste con ella ayer? (Did you talk to her yesterday?)

María habló por teléfono toda la noche. (María talked on the phone all night.)

Hablamos sobre nuestros planes futuros. (We talked about our future plans.)

Los políticos hablaron durante horas. (The politicians spoke for hours.)

Hablé español por primera vez en México. (I spoke Spanish for the first time in Mexico.)

¿Por qué no me hablaste antes? (Why didn’t you talk to me earlier?)

El profesor habló sobre historia antigua. (The professor talked about ancient history.)

Hablamos de ti en la reunión. (We talked about you in the meeting.)

Los niños hablaron durante la clase. (The children talked during class.)

Hablé con el médico esta mañana. (I spoke with the doctor this morning.)

¿Hablaste con tus padres sobre esto? (Did you talk to your parents about this?)

El presidente habló ante la nación. (The president spoke before the nation.)

Hablamos por videollamada. (We spoke via video call.)

Los expertos hablaron sobre el clima. (The experts talked about the weather.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Hablar (to speak) 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.