Time markers for the preterite tense ( simple past). In order to recognise the past tense in Spanish you will need to familiarise yourself with the following time phrases. Every time you read a text or you write a paragraph about the past you need to look for/use the following phrases together with the correct verb ending. En el pasado – In the past Ayer – Yesterday La semana pasada – Last week El mes pasado – Last month El año pasado – Last year Hace dos años – Two years ago, please note that HACE mean ago when used with time. Thus, if you need to say that last week you WENT shopping, you will have to write LA SEMANA PASADA FUI DE COMPRAS.