You're standing there, trying to tell a story about that weekend in Mexico City or the time you hit the shops in Madrid, and you freeze. You need to say we went in Spanish, but your brain stalls. Is it fuimos? Or maybe íbamos? Honestly, it’s one of those things that seems so basic until you actually have to open your mouth and say it in the heat of a conversation.
Most people just grab the first word they find in a dictionary and run with it. That’s a mistake.
If you want to sound like a person and not a translation bot, you have to understand that Spanish doesn't just have one way to say "we went." It depends entirely on whether you're talking about a quick trip to the store or a habit you had three years ago. Languages are messy. Spanish especially loves to play with time.
The Heavy Lifter: Using Fuimos for We Went in Spanish
When you want to say we went in Spanish for a specific, completed action, fuimos is your best friend. This is the preterite tense. It's for things that happened once and then they were over. Done. Dusted.
Think about it like this. If you say, "We went to the beach yesterday," that’s a closed loop. You went, you (presumably) came back, and the event is finished. In Spanish, you’d say, Ayer fuimos a la playa. It’s short. It’s punchy.
But here is where it gets a little weird for English speakers. The word fuimos is actually the past tense for two different verbs: ir (to go) and ser (to be). Context is everything here. If you say fuimos felices, you're saying "we were happy." If you say fuimos al cine, you're saying "we went to the movies." Usually, if there’s an "a" (to) after it, you’re talking about going somewhere.
I remember talking to a friend from Colombia who told me that learners often overthink the "completion" aspect. Don't stress it too much. If the story you’re telling has a clear beginning and end, fuimos is almost always the right call.
Breaking Down the Conjugation
- Verb: Ir (to go)
- Tense: Pretérito Indefinido
- Person: Nosotros/Nosotras
- Word: Fuimos
The Storyteller’s Choice: When to Use Íbamos
Sometimes "we went" isn't about a single trip. Sometimes it's about a vibe. Or a routine.
This is where íbamos comes in. This is the imperfect tense. If you’re describing how "we used to go" to a certain park every Sunday when you were kids, fuimos sounds wrong. It sounds like you only went once in your entire childhood. Instead, you need íbamos.
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Íbamos al parque todos los domingos. It paints a picture. It suggests a recurring action or a background setting for another story. If you’re in the middle of saying "we were going to the store when it started raining," you’d use íbamos because the action of going was interrupted.
Native speakers use this to set the stage. It’s the "once upon a time" energy of Spanish verbs. If you use it correctly, you instantly sound more fluent because you’re showing that you understand the flow of time, not just the facts of the event.
Avoiding the "Fuimos" Trap in Casual Conversation
Spanish is incredibly regional. While fuimos is the standard, you’ll hear people use different structures depending on where they are. In some parts of Spain, especially in the north or in certain social circles, you might hear the present perfect more often for things that happened recently.
Hemos ido. This literally means "we have gone," but it often translates to "we went" in English heads. If you’re in Madrid and you just got back from lunch, you might say Hemos ido a ese restaurante nuevo (We went to that new restaurant). Using fuimos there isn't "wrong," but it feels a bit more distant, like it happened a long time ago.
And then there’s the slang.
In some Caribbean dialects or street slang in places like Mexico City, people might skip the verb "to go" entirely if the context is clear. But for anyone learning, stick to the verbs. You don't want to sound like you're trying too hard to be "street" before you've even mastered the basics of we went in Spanish.
The Irreflexive Mystery: Why "Nos Fuimos" Changes Everything
You might hear people say nos fuimos. You'll see it in song lyrics or hear it as someone grabs their keys to leave a party.
Is it the same as fuimos? Not really.
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Adding that "nos" changes the verb from ir to irse. While ir means "to go," irse means "to leave" or "to depart."
- Fuimos a la fiesta: We went to the party.
- Nos fuimos de la fiesta: We left the party.
It’s a subtle shift, but it’s huge. If you tell someone fuimos a las ocho, they think you arrived at the destination at eight. If you say nos fuimos a las ocho, they know that’s when you walked out the door. It’s about the point of departure versus the destination.
Honestly, nos fuimos is also used as a sort of "Let’s go!" or "We’re out of here!" It’s got an energy to it that the plain version lacks.
Real-World Examples You’ll Actually Use
Let's look at how this looks in the wild. No textbook fluff. Just real sentences.
"We went to the stadium but the game was canceled."
Fuimos al estadio pero el partido se canceló. (One specific event, failed outcome, use fuimos.)
"When we lived in Seville, we went to the tapas bar every night."
Cuando vivíamos en Sevilla, íbamos al bar de tapas todas las noches.
(A habit, a lifestyle, use íbamos.)
"We went there already, let's go somewhere else."
Ya hemos ido allí, vamos a otro lado.
(Recent experience, use hemos ido.)
"We went (left) early because the music was terrible."
Nos fuimos temprano porque la música era fatal.
(Leaving a place, use nos fuimos.)
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Common Mistakes People Make with "Ir"
The biggest hiccup? People try to use fuimos for everything. It’s the "safe" choice, but it makes your Spanish sound flat. It’s like watching a movie where every scene is exactly three seconds long. You need the long, flowing descriptions of íbamos to give your stories some texture.
Another one is the preposition. In English, we say "go to." In Spanish, it's ir a.
Never forget the a.
Fuimos a la playa. Fuimos al (a + el) supermercado.
If you drop that "a," the sentence falls apart. It’s the glue.
Actionable Steps for Mastering the Past Tense
Don't try to memorize a conjugation table. It's boring and it doesn't work when you're actually talking to a human. Instead, try these three things.
First, pick one story from your past. Something you did once. Describe it using fuimos. "We went to the mountains." "We went to the concert." Write it down. Say it out loud.
Second, think of a childhood habit. "We went to my grandma's house." Use íbamos. Feel the difference in how the sentence carries a sense of nostalgia.
Third, practice the "leaving" vs "going" distinction. Next time you leave your house with someone, say Nos fuimos. It’s a small way to bake the reflexive usage into your muscle memory.
Mastering we went in Spanish isn't about being a grammar genius. It's about knowing which "slice" of time you're talking about. Once you get the hang of choosing between the "one-time" fuimos and the "back in the day" íbamos, your storytelling will feel a lot more natural and a lot less like a classroom exercise.
Focus on the context of your story. If you're describing a completed journey, use fuimos. If you're painting a picture of the past, use íbamos. If you're talking about leaving a location, add the nos. These three pillars cover almost every situation you'll encounter in daily conversation.
Keep your sentences varied and don't be afraid to make mistakes with the tenses; native speakers will still understand you, but they'll appreciate the effort to use the descriptive nuances of the language. Practical application in real conversations is the only way to move these words from your head to your tongue.