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Looking at verb formations in the past simple (preterite), tense where patterns can be identified. |
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Looking at very irregular verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense. Stem and ending changes. |
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A special look at the formation of the verbs - ir and ser (to go and to be) in the past simple (preterite), tense. |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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To be aware of how many different verb formations exist in the past simple (preterite), tense and realising the need to learn them without applying rules (stem changes). |
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Appreciating the fact that some patterns do exist when forming some irregular verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense. Being able to recognise these and applying them. |
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A sound understanding of the verbs ir and ser in the past simple (preterite), tense and being able to identify which one is being used in speech. |
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Recognising common spelling changes when using the past simple (preterite), tense and appreciating the importance of using accents marks (tildes). |
Affiliates |
LEARN SPANISH LIKE CRAZY |
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LEARN SPANISH NOW |
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PART 1
A large number of irregular verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense are highly irregular and there are many that have their own unique formations. Many of the formations have to be learnt individually.
Despite this there are some regularities that can be identified. The first part of this lesson looks at those common formation patterns that do exist.
Almost regular verbs
Some verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense are regular except for slight changes in the third person singular, (él/ella/usted) and the third person plural, (ellos/ellas/ustedes). The stems of these verbs change by replacing the principle vowel with another. Below are some common examples:
| personal pronoun | dormir | morir | pedir |
| (to sleep) | (to die) | (to order / food) | |
| yo | dormí | morí | pedí |
| tú | dormiste | moriste | pediste |
| él/ella/usted | durmió | murió | pidió |
| nosotros/nosotras | dormimos | morimos | pedimos |
| vosotros/vosotras | dormisteis | moristeis | pedisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | durmieron | murieron | pidieron |
| personal pronoun | seguir | sentir | reír |
| (to follow / continue) | (to feel) | (to laugh) | |
| yo | seguí | sentí | reí |
| tú | seguiste | sentiste | reíste |
| él/ella/usted | siguió | sintió | rió |
| nosotros/nosotras | seguimos | sentimos | reímos |
| vosotros/vosotras | seguisteis | sentisteis | reísteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | siguieron | sintieron | rieron |
Things to note.
1) The verbs end in IR.
2) The stem vowel is replaced by either a ‘u’ or an ‘i’
3) Accents are used in the first (yo), person singular and third person plural (él/ella/usted). The verb ‘reír’ is the odd one out here as it takes an accent mark with all personal pronouns except the third person plural (ellos/ellas/usteded).
Regularities with verbs in the first person singular (yo)
Other verbs in the past perfect (preterite), tense
are regular except for changes in the first person singular (yo),
only.
1) Some Spanish verbs end in -zar. Here the z changes to a c.
2) Some Spanish verbs end in -gar. Here the g changes to gu.
3) Some Spanish verbs end in -car. Here the c changes to qu
| personal pronoun | comenzar | cargar | suplicar |
| (to begin) | (to carry) | (to beg) | |
| yo | comencé | cargué | supliqué |
| tú | comenzaste | cargaste | suplicaste |
| él/ella/usted | comenzó | cargó | suplicó |
| nosotros/nosotras | comenzamos | cargamos | suplicamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | comenzasteis | cargasteis | suplicasteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | comenzaron | cargaron | suplicaron |
Things to note.
1) The verbs end in AR
2) Accent marks are used in the first person (yo), singular and third person singular (él/ella/usted).
Other regularites
Where the letter ‘y’ replaces a vowel ending in the third person singular (él/ella/usted), and the third person plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes).
| personal pronoun | caer | leer | destruir |
| (to fall) | (to read) | (to destroy) | |
| yo | caí | leí | destruí |
| tú | caíste | leíste | destruiste |
| él/ella/usted | cayó | leyó | destruyó |
| nosotros/nosotras | caímos | leímos | destruimos |
| vosotros/vosotras | caísteis | leísteis | destruisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | cayeron | leyeron | destruyeron |
Things to note.
1) The verbs ‘caer’ and ‘leer’ follow exactly the same pattern. They have accent marks in the same places.
2)
The verb ‘destruir’
and others like it only have accent marks in the first person singular (yo) and third person singular (él/ella/usted).
Other verbs like ‘destruir’ include construir (to build), and excluir
(to exclude).
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at those irregular verbs in the past simple (preterite), tense that are highly irregular. Many of these types of verbs are used frequently in everyday speech. For this reason therefore it is important to know what they are and to learn how each of them are formed.
Some of the most common, highly irregular verbs are listed below. For a complete guide on how these verbs are formed in all tenses, take a look at the verb tables section of this website.
| yo | tú | el/ella/usted | nosotros/as | vosotros/as | ellos/ellas/ ustedes |
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| dar (to give) |
di | diste | dio | dimos | disteis | dieron |
| decir (to say) |
dije | dijiste | dijo | dijimos | dijisteis | dijeron |
| estar (to be) |
estuve | estuviste | estuvo | estuvimos | estuvisteis | estuvieron |
| hacer (to do/make) |
hice | hiciste | hizo | hicimos | hicisteis | hicieron |
| poder (to be able) |
pude | pudiste | pudo | pudimos | pudisteis | pudieron |
| poner (to put) |
puse | pusiste | puso | pusimos | pusisteis | pusieron |
| querer (to want) |
quise | quisiste | quiso | quisimos | quisisteis | quisieron |
| saber (to know) |
supe | supiste | supo | supimos | supisteis | supieron |
| tener (to have) |
tuve | tuviste | tuvo | tuvimos | tuvisteis | tuvieron |
| venir (to come) |
vine | viniste | vino | vinimos | vinisteis | vinieron |
| ver (to see) |
vi | viste | vio | vimos | visteis | vieron |
PART 3
This part of the lesson looks at the verbs ‘ser’ (to be) and ‘ir’ (to go). These verbs are both irregular. Something unique and quite odd happens to these two verbs in the preterite tense. The formation of both verbs are exactly the same. There is no difference in the way they are formed what-so-ever. This is unusual because usually when two verbs in two different tenses are spelt the same way, one of them has an accent mark!
The formation of ‘ser’ and ‘ir’ in the past simple (preterite), tense is as follows:
| personal pronoun | ser | ir |
| (to be) | (to go) | |
| yo | fui | fui |
| tú | fuiste | fuiste |
| él/ella/usted | fue | fue |
| nosotros/nosotras | fuimos | fuimos |
| vosotros/vosotras | fuisteis | fuisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | fueron | fueron |
If the formation of these two verbs is exactly the same you might be wondering how to differentiate between the two. The answer is that in speech it will be obvious which verb is being referred to. Look at this example:
(Yo) fui al casino y gasté todo mi dinero. (I went to the casino and I spent all my money.)
It is not possible that ‘fui’ in this example should mean ‘I was’. Instead, ‘estar’, the other verb meaning ‘to be’ would be used.
(Yo) estuvé en el casino y gasté todo mi dinero. (I was in the casino and I spent all my money.)
Look at the lesson on ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ to understand more about when and why each are used.
That concludes this lesson on the past simple (preterite), tense with
irregular verbs. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for this
lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
