Some verbs are irregular in the preterit tense because the stem of the verb morphs into something very different from the infinitive. These verbs are not stem-changers because they do not follow the patterns that stem-changing verbs follow. The morphing verbs do, however, have consistent preterit irregularities that you can predict if you know they are morphing verbs. These verbs also consistently use the special set of irregular endings found in Table
1 . All the preterit-morphing verbs listed below use these endings rather than the regular preterit endings. Notice that there are no written accent marks on any form.
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TABLE 1
|
Endings for Preterit-Morphing Verbs
|
|
Subject
|
Ending
|
Subject
|
Ending
|
|
yo
|
-e
|
nosotros/nosotras
|
-imos
|
|
tú
|
-iste
|
vosotros/vosotras
|
-isteis
|
|
él
|
-o
|
ellos
|
-ieron
|
|
ella
|
-o
|
ellas
|
-ieron
|
|
usted
|
-o
|
ustedes
|
-ieron
|
|
u-stem verbs
Some verbs have a
u as part of the stem in the preterit even though they do not have a
u in the infinitive. The morph listed next to the verbs below is used in place of the stem of the verb for every form of the preterit conjugation. All of the following verbs use the endings from Table
1 to form the preterit.
|
andar
|
(to walk) changes to
anduv-
|
|
estar
|
(to be) changes to
estuv-
|
|
poner
|
(to put) changes to
pus-
|
|
poder
|
(to be able) changes to
pud-
|
|
saber
|
(to know) changes to
sup-
|
|
tener
|
(to have) changes to
tuv-
|
|
Memorize the forms of
tener in the preterit (Table
2 ) and chant them like a mantra. Not only is the verb
tener (to have) extremely common, but knowing how to conjugate it in the preterit tense will also help you to remember the patterns for all of the
u-stem verbs listed above.
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TABLE 2
|
Preterit Forms of
Tener (to Have)
|
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
|
yo
|
tuve
|
nosotros/nosotras
|
tuvimos
|
|
tú
|
tuviste
|
vosotros/vosotras
|
tuvisteis
|
|
él
|
tuvo
|
ellos
|
tuvieron
|
|
ella
|
tuvo
|
ellas
|
tuvieron
|
|
usted
|
tuvo
|
ustedes
|
tuvieron
|
|
i-stem verbs
Another group of preterit-morphing verbs have an irregular stem that includes the letter
i. These verbs use the irregular endings in Table
1 . The
i-stem verbs that follow are conjugated like
venir (to come) in the preterit tense (see Table
3 ).
|
TABLE 3
|
Preterit Forms of
Venir (to Come)
|
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
|
yo
|
vine
|
nosotros/nosotras
|
vinimos
|
|
tú
|
viniste
|
vosotros/vosotras
|
vinisteis
|
|
él
|
vino
|
ellos
|
vinieron
|
|
ella
|
vino
|
ellas
|
vinieron
|
|
usted
|
vino
|
ustedes
|
vinieron
|
|
|
hacer
|
(to make, to do) changes to
hic-
|
|
querer
|
(to want, to love) changes to
quis-
|
|
venir
|
(to come) changes to
vin-
|
|
Remember that preterit-morphing verbs do not conjugate like stem-changers in the preterit tense, even though some of them may be stem-changers in the present tense.
Even though
hacer uses the same endings as
venir in the preterit, there is one spelling change that you have to make on the
él, ella, and
usted forms of
hacer to preserve the soft
c sound. As you can see in Table
4 , you must change the
c to a
z in front of the -
o ending.
|
TABLE 4
|
Preterit Forms of
Hacer (to Make, to Do)
|
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
|
yo
|
hice
|
nosotros/nosotras
|
hicimos
|
|
tú
|
hiciste
|
vosotros/vosotras
|
hicisteis
|
|
él
|
hizo
|
ellos
|
hicieron
|
|
ella
|
hizo
|
ellas
|
hicieron
|
|
usted
|
hizo
|
ustedes
|
hicieron
|
|
j-stem verbs
The group of preterit-morphing verbs with a stem ending in
j use the same endings as the other preterit-morphing verbs with one exception: Notice that the third-person plural ending of the verb
traer in Table
5 is -
eron. When the irregular stem ends in
j, the
ellos, ellas, and
ustedes ending drops the letter
i and becomes -
jeron. All the following verbs are conjugated like
traer in the preterit.
|
TABLE 5
|
Preterit Forms of
Traer (to Bring)
|
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
Subject
|
Verb
|
|
yo
|
traje
|
nosotros/nosotras
|
trajimos
|
|
tú
|
trajiste
|
vosotros/vosotras
|
trajisteis
|
|
él
|
trajo
|
ellos
|
trajeron
|
|
ella
|
trajo
|
ellas
|
trajeron
|
|
usted
|
trajo
|
ustedes
|
trajeron
|
|
|
conducir (to drive, to lead)
|
changes to
conduj-
|
|
decir (to say, to tell)
|
changes to
dij-
|
|
producir (to produce)
|
changes to
produj-
|
|
traducir (to translate)
|
changes to
traduj-
|
|
Antonyms and Synonyms
The Past Tenses: Preterit and Imperfect
