These are my directions: Change the present tense verb in the sentence to the preterite tense. Can you help me understand how to do this?

Question

These are the Questions(1-5):

1. Voy a estudiar.

2. Vas a dar comida al perro

3. Es un estudiante.

4. Somos aquí.

5. Son cómicos.

I'm supposed to be using ir and ser but I don't know when, where or why. Can you help me to understand this better? Please and thank you! Remember the Golden Rule :) Thanks again!

Answer 1

I'll send your post to our Spanish expert, SraJMcGin.

Answer 2

First of all you need to learn how to form the Preterit for both regular and irregular verbs.
-ar (hablar)
yo hablé, tú hablaste, él/ella/ usted habló,
nosotros, -as hablamos, vosotros, -as
hablásteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaron

-er (comer)
yo comí, tú comiste, él/ella/usted comió,
nosotros, -as comimos, vosotros, -as comísteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes comieron

-ir (vivir)
yo viví, tú viviste, él/ella/usted vivió,
nosotros, -as vivimos, vosotros, -as vivísteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes vivieron

NOTE; the accents, color-code the endings so they stand out; that makes them easier to memorize.

Some irregulars that I see you have.
ir/ser (note that they will be identical, so usually it's the "a" that goes with "ir" that will identify that one.)
yo fui, tú fuiste, él/ella/usted fue, nosotros, -as fuimos, vosotros, -as fuisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes fueron

Note: these are unstressed, or, in other words, have no accent marks.

Now, look at the subject (which is not stated above) = yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, -as, vosotros, -as, ellos, ellas, ustedes) in the Present Tense and shift that to the Preterit. Be SURE it is the same subject!

Now, you try them and I'll be back to check.

Sra (aka Mme)

Answer 3

OK. I've waited all I can. I will not be back unless MsSue sends me another note.

Sra (aka Mme)