Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense

1
Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense
2
Regular Preterit Endings
-ar -ar
-é -amos
-aste asteis
-ó -aron
-er/-ir -er/-ir
-í -imos
-iste isteis
-ió -ieron
3
Irregular Preterit Verbs

• Unfortunately, many of the most common verbs in
  Spanish are irregular in the preterit tense.
  Fortunately, even the irregular verbs follow
  patterns.

4
Ser and Ir
Ser and ir, although they mean completely
different things, are identical in the preterit
tense. Context and the a that usually follows ir
are the only ways to determine whether ser or ir
is being used.
Ser / Ir Ser / Ir
fui fuimos
fuiste fuisteis
fue fueron
Miguel fue al banco.
Miguel fue un alumno estupéndo.
The a following fue indicates that it is a form
of ir.
CONTEXT Chances are, Miguel was never a bank.
This suggests that fue is not a form of ser in
this sentence.
The absence of a following fue indicates that it
is a form of ser.
CONTEXT It is feasible that Miguel was a
stupendous student, which would support the
possibility that fue is a form of ser in this
sentence.
5
Estar and Tener
Estar to be Estar to be
estuve estuvimos
estuviste estuvisteis
estuvo estuvieron
Tener to have Tener to have
tuve tuvimos
tuviste tuvisteis
tuvo tuvieron
6
Many irregular preterit verbs share the same
endings.
Common Irregular Preterit Endings Common Irregular Preterit Endings
-e -imos
-iste isteis
-o -ieron
Hacer, querer, venir, saber, traer, poder, and
poner all share these endings. However, their
stems change before adding these endings.
7
Infinitive Stem (in the Preterit) Endings
hacer hic- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
querer quis- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
venir vin- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
saber sup- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
traer traj- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
poder pud- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
poner pus- -e -iste -o -imos isteis -ieron
Estar Estuv -
Tener Tuv -
Conducir Conduj-
Decir Dij-
Hic- changes to hiz- in the third-person
singular (hizo) to preserve the s sound that is
present in the other preterit forms of hacer.
8
Verbs that end with -eer

• Verbs that end with eer are irregular in the
  preterit tense, but are alike. Look at the
  following examples

leer leer
leí leímos
leíste leísteis
leyó leyeron
creer creer
creí creímos
creíste creísteis
creyó creyeron
9
Oir

• Oir fits in the same category with verbs that end
  in -eer w/ accents on all Is and y in the
  bottom of the boot.

Oí Oímos
Oíste Oísteis
Oyó Oyeron
10
Verbos that end in uir

• Similar to verbs that end in eer but do not
  have accents on all forms.
• Construir

Construí Construimos
Construiste Construisteis
Construyó Construyeron
11
Ver
Vi Vimos
Viste Visteis
Vio Vieron
12
Dar
Di Dimos
Diste Disteis
Dio Dieron
13
Haber

• Hay There is/are
• Habia There was/ were
• Hubo There was/were