beber Preterite Conjugation
beber — to drink
The preterite of beber is regular: bebí, bebiste, bebió, bebimos, bebisteis, bebieron.
beber Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you are talking about drinking something at a specific point in time that is finished, like a soda you had with lunch yesterday.
Notes on beber in the Preterite
Beber is fully regular in the preterite. Just remember the accent marks on the 'yo' and 'él/ella/usted' forms.
Example Sentences
Ayer bebí un té de jengibre.
Yesterday I drank a ginger tea.
yo
Él bebió todo el jugo de naranja.
He drank all the orange juice.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros bebimos una botella de vino en la cena.
We drank a bottle of wine at dinner.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: bebio (without accent)
Correct: bebió
Why: The third-person singular preterite always needs an accent on the final vowel to indicate stress.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: bebo
Beber is a regular -er verb in the present: bebo, bebes, bebe, bebemos, bebéis, beben.
Imperfect
yo: bebía
The imperfect of beber uses -ía endings: bebía, bebías, bebía, bebíamos, bebíais, bebían.
Future
yo: beberé
The future of beber is formed by adding -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: bebería
The conditional of beber adds -ía endings to the infinitive: bebería, beberías, bebería, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: beba
The present subjunctive of beber uses -a endings: beba, bebas, beba, bebamos, bebáis, beban.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: bebiera
The imperfect subjunctive of beber is bebiera, bebieras, bebiera, bebiéramos, bebierais, bebieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: bebe
The affirmative imperative of beber uses: bebe (tú), beba (usted), bebamos (nosotros), bebed (vosotros), beban (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no bebas
The negative imperative of beber uses the present subjunctive: no bebas, no beba, no bebamos, no bebáis, no beban.