Lesson 26 - Viaje (Travel)
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Pages in this lesson: Travel - Irregular Preterite - Dialogue - Reading - Quiz
This page: Learn the irregular preterite (past tense) forms in Spanish.
Irregular Preterite Forms
Grammar Lesson
You learned in the previous grammar lesson (Lesson 25 - Preterite) that the preterite form is used to refer to an action or state of being that was completed at a specific point in the past. If you see a specific date or time that the action was completed in the past, that is a good clue that you must use the preterite form in that sentence. If the verb refers to a habitual or continuous action in the past that doesn't have a specific beginning and ending, you would use not use the preterite form. In lesson 25 you learned the regular preterite verb forms. In this lesson, you will learn the irregular preterite verb forms.
Irregular Verbs
The following verbs are irregular in the preterite (past tense) form. The irregularity from the regular preterite rules is highlighted in red.
Note: The irregular past tense forms of ser (to be) and ir (to go) are identical. You determine from context the meaning of the verb.
- ser (to be) - fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
- ir (to go) - fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
- dar (to give) - di , diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron
- hacer (to make) - hice , hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
- querer (to want) - quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron
- saber (to know) - supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
- decir (to say) - dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron
- traer (to bring) - traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron
- tener (to have) - tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
- estar (to be) - estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
- andar (to walk) - anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron
- poder (to be able to) - pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
- poner (to put) - puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
Practice
Section 1
Practice writing these verbs in the different forms of the preterite.
1) decir (to say)
2) estar (to be)
3) dar (to give)
4) ir (to go)
5) traer (to bring)
6) hacer (to make)
7) poder (to be able to)
8) ser (to be)
9) tener (to have)
10) querer (to want)
11) andar (to walk)
12) poner (to put)
13) saber (to know)
Verbs with stem changes in the preterite
Some verbs have stems that change in the usted/él/ella form and the ellos/ellas/ustedes form in the preterite.
e → i
With the following verbs, the letter E changes to an I in the usted/él/ella form and the ellos/ellas/ustedes form.
- conseguir (to get) - conseguí, conseguiste, consiguió, conseguimos, conseguisteis, consiguieron
- hervir (to boil) - herví, herviste, hirvió, hervimos, hervisteis, hirvieron
- mentir (to lie) - mentí, mentiste, mintió, mentimos, mentisteis, mintieron
- pedir (to ask for) - pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
- preferir (to prefer) - preferí, preferiste, prefirió, preferimos, preferisteis, prefirieron
- repetir (to repeat) - repetí, repetiste, repitió, repetimos, repetisteis, repitieron
- seguir (to follow) - seguí, seguiste, siguió, seguimos, seguisteis, siguieron
- sentir (to feel) - sentí, sentiste, sintió, sentimos, sentisteis, sintieron
- servir (to serve) - serví, serviste, sirvió, servimos, servisteis, sirvieron
- sugerir (to suggest) - sugerí, sugeriste, sugirió, sugerimos, sugeristeis, sugirieron
- vestir (to wear) - vestí, vestiste, vistió, vestimos, vestisteis, vistieron
o → u
With the following verbs, the letter O changes to an U in the usted/él/ella form and the ellos/ellas/ustedes form.
- dormir (to sleep) - dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
- morir (to die) - morí, moriste, murió, morimos, moristeis, murieron
Practice
Section 2
Write the stem-changing verbs in the different forms of the preterite.
1) sentir (to feel)
2) mentir (to lie)
3) repetir (to repeat)
4) sugerir (to suggest)
5) conseguir (to get)
6) preferir (to prefer)
7) morir (to die)
8) pedir (to ask for)
9) hervir (to boil)
10) vestir (to wear)
11) seguir (to follow)
12) servir (to serve)
13) dormir (to sleep)
Verbs with spelling changes
The following verbs have orthographic (spelling) changes in the yo form so that they are pronounced correctly.
-gué
With these verbs the letter U is added in the yo form to retain the hard G sound.
- apagar (to turn off) - apagué, apagaste, apagó, apagamos, apagasteis, apagaron
- jugar (to play) - jugué, jugaste, jugó, jugamos, jugasteis, jugaron
- llegar (to arrive) - llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron
- pagar (to pay) - pagué, pagaste, pagó, pagamos, pagasteis, pagaron
-qué
With these verbs the letter C is changed to QU in the yo form to retain the K sound.
- buscar (to look for) - busqué, buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron
- practicar (to practice) - practiqué, practicaste, practicó, practicamos, practicasteis, practicaron
- sacar (to take out) - saqué, sacaste, sacó, sacamos, sacasteis, sacaron
- tocar (to touch) - toqué, tocaste, tocó, tocamos, tocasteis, tocaron
-cé
With these verbs the letter Z is changed to a C in the yo form.
- cruzar (to cross) - crucé, cruzaste, cruzó, cruzamos, cruzasteis, cruzaron
- empezar (to start) - crucé, cruzaste, cruzó, cruzamos, cruzasteis, cruzaron
- lanzar (to throw) - lancé, lanzaste, lanzó, lanzamos, lanzasteis, lanzaron
y
With these verbs the letter Y is added to make the verbs easier to pronounce in the usted/él/ella form and the ellos/ellas/ustedes form. The last two verbs in the list also have an accent on the letter I to ensure correct pronunciation (because of the two vowels together which otherwise could be blended).
- contribuir (to contribute) - contribuí, contribuiste, contribuyó, contribuimos, contribuisteis, contribuyeron
- destruir (to destroy) - destruí, destruiste, destruyó, destruimos, destruisteis, destruyeron
- incluir (to include) - incluí, incluiste, incluyó, incluimos, incluisteis, incluyeron
- leer (to read) - leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis , leyeron
- creer (to believe) - creí, creíste, creyó, creímos, creísteis , creyeron
Practice
Section 3
Practice writing these verbs with spelling changes in the different forms of the preterite.
1) tocar (to touch)
2) contribuir (to contribute)
3) jugar (to play)
4) leer (to read)
5) pagar (to pay)
6) practicar (to practice)
7) empezar (to start)
8) llegar (to arrive)
9) incluir (to include)
10) buscar (to look for)
11) destruir (to destroy)
12) lanzar (to throw)
13) sacar (to take out)
14) creer (to believe)
15) apagar (to turn off)
16) cruzar (to cross)
Find the mistake in the sentence and re-write it correctly in the space. Don't forget to use correct capitalization, accents and punctuation, or the computer will mark it as incorrect.
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More Practice
On a piece of paper, write one sentence in the past tense with each of the verbs learned on this page.
Writing
Write a few sentences in the preterite with verbs from this lesson. If you want to type a special character (like an accented letter) in the comments section, you could do one of the following . . .
- Select and copy the character that you need → á é í ó ú ü ñ ¿ ¡ Á É Í Ó Ú Ü Ñ « »
- Use special codes on your computer if you have numeric keypad (instructions HERE).
- Type your sentences into the text box below and use the special character buttons provided. Then select and copy your text and paste it into the comments section.
If you see an error in someone else's sentence, please respond with the correction. Comments that are not from "Janet Castrejon" (the author of this page) do not represent Simplified Spanish. If someone is writing inappropriate comments on this webpage, please send a message to [email protected] and include the page that you saw the comment on.
Lesson 26 - Viaje (Travel)
Travel - Irregular Preterite - Dialogue - Reading - Quiz
Important Links
Pronouns - Pronunciation - Verbs
