The preterite of ver is used to express when you saw something specific in the past. For example, you might say “I saw the movie last night,” indicating a completed viewing at a particular time.

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. It has unique conjugation patterns that don’t follow the regular rules, though it’s one of the simpler irregular verbs to remember.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Ver (to see) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of ver expresses a completed act of seeing or watching.

Saw: Indicates a specific instance of seeing something, for example Vi tu carro en el estacionamiento (I saw your car in the parking lot). Also used for watching entertainment, as in Vimos una película anoche (We watched a movie last night).

Met/Visited: Used for encounters with people, for example Lo vi en el café ayer (I saw him at the café yesterday).

Examples

Examples of Ver in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Vi una película increíble anoche. (I saw an amazing movie last night.)

¿Viste el accidente en la calle? (Did you see the accident on the street?)

Ella vio un ovni en el cielo. (She saw a UFO in the sky.)

Vimos el partido en el estadio. (We saw the game at the stadium.)

Los turistas vieron el eclipse solar. (The tourists saw the solar eclipse.)

Vi a tu hermana en el centro comercial. (I saw your sister at the mall.)

¿Viste las noticias esta mañana? (Did you see the news this morning?)

El detective vio algo sospechoso. (The detective saw something suspicious.)

Vimos fuegos artificiales en año nuevo. (We saw fireworks on New Year’s.)

Los niños vieron un arcoíris. (The children saw a rainbow.)

Vi tu mensaje muy tarde. (I saw your message very late.)

¿Viste al nuevo profesor? (Did you see the new teacher?)

Mi amigo vio un fantasma. (My friend saw a ghost.)

Vimos el amanecer en la playa. (We saw the sunrise at the beach.)

Los científicos vieron un nuevo planeta. (The scientists saw a new planet.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Ver (to see) 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.