⇒ Some Spanish preterite verbs undergo changes in the stem when conjugated.
⇒ Others undergo more drastic spelling changes or are simply considered irregular.
⇒ In these notes, we'll take a look at some common verbs with tricky preterite conjugations, including:
⇒ Looking for an introduction to the past tense in Spanish? Check out our article on Spanish preterite tense forms.
⇒ Verbs ending in -ir that undergo stem changes in the present tense also under go stem changes in the preterite.
⇒ These verbs have a stem change in the second person formal singular (usted), third person singular (él, ella) and third and second person plural (ellos, ellas and ustedes) forms.
⇒ These changes fall into two types:
⇒ Check out the conjugations for examples of these verb types below, paying careful attention the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes translations.
| Subject | sentir (to feel) | pedir (to order) | dormir (to sleep) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | sentí | pedí | dormí |
| tú | sentiste | pediste | dormiste |
| él, ella, usted | sintió | pidío | durmío |
| nosotros | sentimos | pedimos | dormimos |
| vosotros | sentisteis | pedisteis | dormisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | sintieron | pidieron | durmieron |
⇒ ¡Ojo! (Careful!) Reír and sonreír also have stem changes in the preterite. Check out the conjugations for these verbs below.
| Subject | reír (to laugh) | sonreír (to smile) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | reí | sonreí |
| tú | reíste | sonreíste |
| él, ella, usted | rió | sonrió |
| nosotros | reímos | sonreímos |
| vosotros | reísteis | sonreísteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | rieron | sonrieron |
⇒ Here are examples of other verbs with the spelling changes described above.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| conseguir | to get |
| despedirse | to say goodbye |
| divertirse | to have fun |
| morir | to die |
| repetir | to repeat |
| servir | to serve, to function |
| sugerir | to suggest |
| vestirse | to get dressed |
⇒ The majority of verbs ending in -ducir, as well as the verbs decir and traer, take a j in the preterite in all forms
⇒ In addition, the ellos, ellas, and ustedes forms of these verbs end in -eron instead of -ieron.
⇒ Check out the conjugations below for examples of these verb types.
| Subject | conducir (to lead) | traducir (to translate) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | conduje | traduje |
| tú | condujiste | tradujiste |
| él, ella, usted | condujo | tradujo |
| nosotros | condujimos | tradujimos |
| vosotros | condujisteis | tradujisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | condujeron | tradujeron |
| Subject | decir (to say) | traer (to bring) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | dije | traje |
| tú | dijiste | trajiste |
| él, ella, usted | dijo | trajo |
| nosotros | dijimos | trajimos |
| vosotros | dijisteis | trajisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | dijeron | trajeron |
⇒ Verbs that have stems ending in a vowel + -er or -ir take a y in the él, ella, usted and ellos, ellas, ustedes forms.
⇒ Check out the conjugations below for examples of these verb types.
| Subject | caer (to fall) | leer (to read) | roer (to nibble) | oír (to hear) | concluir (to conclude) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | caí | leí | roí | oí | concluí |
| tú | caíste | leíste | roíste | oíste | concluiste |
| él, ella, usted | cayó | leyó | royó | oyó | concluyó |
| nosotros | caímos | leímos | roímos | oímos | concluimos |
| vosotros | caísteis | leísteis | roísteis | oísteis | concluisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | cayeron | leyeron | royeron | oyeron | concluyeron |
⇒ Verbs that end in -uir, like concluir, construir, and incluir, do not have accents on their tú, nosotros or vosotros forms.
⇒ Some common irregular verbs follow similar patterns in the preterite.
⇒ For example, tener, andar, and estar all have preterite stems with uv.
| Subject | andar (to walk) | estar (to be) | tener (to have) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | anduve | estuve | tuve |
| tú | anduviste | estuviste | tuviste |
| él, ella, usted | anduvo | estuvo | tuvo |
| nosotros | anduvimos | estuvimos | tuvimos |
| vosotros | anduvisteis | estuvisteis | tuvisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | anduvieron | estuvieron | tuvieron |
⇒ These common irregular verbs swap the first vowel in the infinitive form to make a new preterite stem with u.
⇒ Check out the conjugations below for examples of these verb types.
| Subject | caber (to fit) | haber (to have) | poder (to be able to) | poner (to put) | saber (to know) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | cupe | hube | pude | puse | supe |
| tú | cupiste | hubiste | pudiste | pusiste | supiste |
| él, ella, usted | cupo | hubo | pudo | puso | supo |
| nosotros | cupimos | hubimos | pudimos | pusimos | supimos |
| vosotros | cupisteis | hubisteis | pudisteis | pusisteis | supisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | cupieron | hubieron | pudieron | pusieron | supieron |
⇒ Caber, poner, and saber have extra spelling changes in the preterite:
⇒ These common irregular verbs swap the first (or, in the case of querer, the second) vowel in the infinitive form to make a new preterite stem with i.
⇒ Check out the conjugations below for examples of these verb types.
| Subject | hacer (to do) | querer (to want) | venir (to come) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hice | quise | vine |
| tú | hiciste | quisiste | viniste |
| él, ella, usted | hizo | quiso | vino |
| nosotros | hicimos | quisimos | vinimos |
| vosotros | hicisteis | quisisteis | vinisteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hicieron | quisieron | vinieron |
⇒ In the él, ella and usted forms of hacer, the c changes to a z.
⇒ All preterite forms of querer swap the first r for an s.
⇒ The following irregular preterite forms are ones you've just got to memorize.
| Subject | ser (to be) | ir (to go) | dar (to give) | ver (to see) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | fui | di | vi |
| tú | fuiste | fuiste | diste | viste |
| él, ella, usted | fue | fue | dio | vio |
| nosotros | fuimos | fuimos | dimos | vimos |
| vosotros | fuisteis | fuisteis | disteis | visteis |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | fueron | fueron | dieron | vieron |
⇒ Looking for more on the preterite? Check out our articles on the preterite vs. the imperfect, verbs with meaning changes in the preterite, and spelling changes in the preterite.