The preterite of sentir is used to express what you felt at a specific moment in the past. For example, you might say “I felt a sharp pain in my back,” indicating when a particular sensation occurred.

This is an e to i stem-changing verb in which the ‘e’ changes to ‘i’ in the third person singular and plural forms of the preterite. The stem change follows a regular pattern for this type of verb.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Sentir (to feel) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of sentir describes experiencing feelings or sensations at specific moments.

Feeling: Used for emotions or sensations, for example sentí miedo (I felt fear).

Regret: Expresses feeling sorry, for example sintió no poder ir (they regretted not being able to go).

Examples

Examples of Sentir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Sentí un dolor agudo en la espalda. (I felt a sharp pain in my back.)

¿Sentiste el temblor anoche? (Did you feel the earthquake last night?)

Ella sintió miedo al escuchar el ruido. (She felt afraid when she heard the noise.)

Sentimos una gran alegría al verlo. (We felt great joy when we saw him.)

Los estudiantes sintieron nervios antes del examen. (The students felt nervous before the exam.)

Sentí nostalgia por mi país. (I felt nostalgic for my country.)

¿Sentiste frío durante la noche? (Did you feel cold during the night?)

El equipo sintió la presión de la final. (The team felt the pressure of the final.)

Sentimos orgullo por sus logros. (We felt proud of their achievements.)

Los niños sintieron emoción al abrir los regalos. (The children felt excited opening the gifts.)

Sentí vergüenza por mi error. (I felt ashamed of my mistake.)

Él sintió alivio al terminar el proyecto. (He felt relief upon finishing the project.)

Sentimos pena por la noticia. (We felt sorry about the news.)

¿Sentiste el cambio de temperatura? (Did you feel the temperature change?)

Ellos sintieron curiosidad por el misterio. (They felt curious about the mystery.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Sentir (to feel) 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.