Vestir Preterite (Past) Tense in Castilian Spanish

The preterite of vestir is used to express when someone got dressed or dressed someone else at a specific point in the past. For example, “I dressed the baby this morning” – “Vestí al bebé esta mañana.”

This is an e to i stem-changing verb in the preterite tense. The stem change only occurs in the third person singular and plural forms (vistió, vistieron), making it a partial stem change.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Vestir (to dress) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

Pronoun Conjugation
Yovestí
vestiste
Él / Ella / Ustedvistió
Nosotros / Nosotrasvestimos
Vosotros / Vosotrasvestisteis
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedesvistieron

Boost Your Memorization with Audio!

We’ve included audio recordings of the the conjugations of Vestir (to dress) in the Preterite (Past) Tense to help you learn faster.

Pro Tip: Play the audio on a loop as you study the chart. This repetition will solidify the correct conjugations in your memory.

Usage of Vestir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of vestir indicates completed actions of dressing or wearing clothes.

To dress: Used for putting on clothing, for example Me vestí rápidamente (I got dressed quickly), or Vistió al niño para la escuela (She dressed the child for school).

To wear for an occasion: Describes wearing specific clothing for an event, for example Se vistió de negro para la ceremonia (She wore black for the ceremony).

Examples

Examples of Vestir in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Me vestí rápidamente para no llegar tarde. (I dressed quickly to not be late.)

¿Por qué te vestiste tan elegante? (Why did you dress so elegantly?)

Se vistió de negro para la ocasión. (She dressed in black for the occasion.)

Nos vestimos de gala para la fiesta. (We dressed up for the party.)

Los niños se vistieron de superhéroes. (The children dressed up as superheroes.)

Te vestiste muy apropiadamente para la entrevista. (You dressed very appropriately for the interview.)

Se vistió con su mejor traje. (He dressed in his best suit.)

Vestí a mi hijo para la escuela. (I dressed my son for school.)

Se vistieron de blanco para la ceremonia. (They dressed in white for the ceremony.)

Me vestí con ropa deportiva para el gimnasio. (I dressed in sportswear for the gym.)

La novia se vistió de manera tradicional. (The bride dressed traditionally.)

Nos vestimos abrigados por el frío. (We dressed warmly because of the cold.)

Se vistió como príncipe para el carnaval. (He dressed as a prince for carnival.)

Vestiste al bebé con mucho cuidado. (You dressed the baby very carefully.)

Se vistieron formal para la cena. (They dressed formally for dinner.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Vestir (to dress) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

Spanish English
Yo vestí I dressed
Tú vestiste You dressed
Él / Ella / Usted vistió He / She / You (formal) dressed
Nosotros / Nosotras vestimos We dressed
Vosotros / Vosotras vestisteis You all dressed
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes vistieron They / You all (formal) dressed

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.