Comiste or comistes?

[caliber1]

I have noticed something about some of the native Spanish speakers at work. Some, not all, will add an "s" at the end of a preterite verb when talking about and directly to someone. For example; my friend Jesus has asked me what I ate. He will ask, "¿Qué comistes?" He doesn't always add the "s", but he does it more often than not. Is this colloquial? Is this a beginner thing that I am oblivious to ? I have now caugth myself adding this "s" as well when I'm talking to someone just because Jesus is the one I primarily talk to in Spanish. What do you all think? Thanks

[Rusty]

The additional 's' in the singular second-person preterite is regional, but that region happens to be all of Latin America (I think). I don't know about Spain.

The second-person conjugations all end in 's' except the singular second-person preterite, so adding a final 's' to the preterite form seems to make perfect sense in some people's minds.

It is considered incorrect in all the Spanish-speaking world, but that doesn't mean it isn't used. Only the less educated tend to use it habitually.

Avoid using it.

[wrholt]

Rusty's comments match everything I've heard about it: the preterite is the ONLY tense where the 'tú' form of the verb does NOT have a final 's', and some people add one by analogy with the other tenses. Even so, it is generally rejected by most educated speakers.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Rusty

The second-person conjugations all end in 's' except the singular second-person preterite, so adding a final 's' to the preterite form seems to make perfect sense in some people's minds.

I find it surprising that Latin has exactly this feature, and that it has been taken over into Spanish without adding an 's' by analogy. That's how conservative languages can be.

Here in Tenerife there is the opposite phenomenon that all final 's' are suppressed, and most other 's' as well, so it sounds like a speech defect to me. That, and no difference between 2nd and 3rd singular, so very confusing.

[Profesoradeespañol]

Hello,
In Andalusia is common not to pronounce "s" at the end of the word, but it isn't correct. So, you see, Spanish language is very diverse and rich.

[JPablo]

Agree with the above. Avoid the use of this "-s"

¿Vistes los errores?
¿Viste los errores?

¿Comistes las patatas?
¿Comiste las patatas?

¿Fuistes a verla?
¿Fuiste a verla?

[aleCcowaN]

Unless you are voseante. Only people tuteante is wrong when they add that extra s following the rest of conjugations (final s works for them as a mark of second person singular for everything except imperative: piensas, pienses, pensastes, pensabas, pensaras, pensarás, pensares, pensarías).

Anyway, that wouldn't be a literary form of voseo, though a valid one (pensás, pensés, pensastes, pensabas, pensaras, pensarés, pensares, pensarías; for most voseantes -though some of them, mostly future forms, are dated-)