Preterite Irregular Verbs

Now we’ll learn some irregular “er/ir” verbs that have stem changes. Remember that the stem is the core part of the verb. The endings are still the same with these irregulars. Do you remember the “er/ir” spine endings? Let’s review them briefly here:

í	imos
iste	isteis
ió	ieron

Let’s take a look and see how the stems change on these verbs. The first verb is “pedir”:

(Yo)	pedí	(Nosotros)	pedimos
(Tú)	pediste	(Vosotros)	pedisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	pidió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	pidieron

Notice that only the bottom two are irregular and have stem changes. The “e” changes to “i". Now we’ll go over the rest of the irregular verbs of this type:
Seguir (to continue or to follow)

(Yo)	seguí	(Nosotros)	seguimos
(Tú)	seguiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	seguisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	sigió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	siguieron

Again, notice that the bottom row is irregular. As we go through the next few verbs, continue to take note of how the bottom row of each verb conjugation is irregular. Try to memorize how they’re different. Also, especially notice how they’re pronounced so you can start tuning your ear and memory to how they sound.

Now, we’ll look at the verb conseguir (to attain or to get)

(Yo)	conseguí	(Nosotros)	conseguimos
(Tú)	conseguiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	conseguisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	consigió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	consiguieron

Next is the verb repetir (to repeat)

(Yo)	repetí	(Nosotros)	repetimos
(Tú)	repetiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	repetiseis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	repitió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	repitieron

Now the verb servir (to serve)

(Yo)	serví	(Nosotros)	servimos
(Tú)	serviste	(Vosotros-Spain)	servisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	sirvió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	sirvieron

Continuing is the verb preferir (to prefer)

(Yo)	preferí	(Nosotros)	preferimos
(Tú)	preferiste	(Vosotros -Spain)	preferisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	prefirió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	prefirieron

Next is the verb requerir (to require)

(Yo)	requerí	(Nosotros)	requerimos
(Tú)	requeriste	(Vosotros - Spain)	requeristeis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	requirió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	requirieron

Now the verb sentir (to be sorry or to feel)

(Yo)	sentí	(Nosotros)	sentimos
(Tú)	sentiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	sentisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	sintió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	sintieron

The next three verbs add a “y” to the irregular bottom line. 
The first one is destruir. (to destroy)

(Yo)	destruí	(Nosotros)	destruimos
(Tú)	destruiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	destruiste
(El, Ella, Ud.)	destruyó	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	destruyeron

The next one to add a “y” is incluir (to include)

(Yo)	incuí	(Nosotros)	incluimos
(Tú)	incluiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	incluisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	incluyó	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	incluyeron

The final one that adds a “y” is oír (to hear)

(Yo)	oí	(Nosotros)	oímos
(Tú)	oíste	(Vosotros-Spain)	oísteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	oyó	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	oyeron

This final set changes from “o” to “u” on the bottom row.

First is the verb “morir” (to die)

(Yo)	morí	(Nosotros)	morimos
(Tú)	moriste	(Vosotros - Spain)	moristeis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	murió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	murieron

And finally, the verb dormir (to sleep)

(Yo)	dormí	(Nosotros)	dormimos
(Tú)	dormiste	(Vosotros-Spain)	dormisteis
(El, Ella, Ud.)	durmió	(Ellos, Ellas, Uds)	durmieron

Now that you’ve had a chance to see all of these irregular verbs and how they work, we’ll learn a few new words, then go to our practice session. However, as I mentioned before, I do recommend reviewing this lesson more than once to help tune your ear to how these verbs sound.

Are you ready for the new words:
A book                       un libro 
young                          joven 
el bistec                      the steak

 Practice Session

Here we’ll practice the irregular verbs you learned in the previous lesson. Remember, these verbs are stem changers. Here we go.

I asked for three.	Pedí tres.
(Juana) You followed him.	Lo seguiste.
He got a book.	Consigió un libro.
She repeated it.	Lo repitió.
(Sra. Mendoza) You served them (ellos).	Los sirvió.
We didn’t destroy it.	No lo destruimos.
They didn’t include him.	No lo incluyeron.
All of you heard her.	La oyeron.
I felt sad.	Sentí triste.
(Pepe) You preferred it. Didn’t you?	Lo preferiste ¿No?
He required a lot.	Requirió mucho.
She died very young.	Murió muy joven.
(Sr. Mendes) You slept. Didn’t you?	Durmió ¿No?
(Marta) You got it (la hamburguesa).	La conseguiste.
He asked for it (el lápiz).	Lo pidió.
She followed me.	Me sigió.
We repeated it.	Lo repetimos.
I served them (ellas).	Las serví.
All of you destroyed it. Didn’t you?	Lo destruyeron. ¿No?
I included her in the game.	La incluí en el juego.
(Rodrigo) You didn’t hear it. Did you?	No lo oíste. ¿No?
He felt happy.	Sintió feliz.
She preferred the steak.	Prefirió el bistec.
We required it.	Lo requerimos.
I didn’t die.	No morí.
(Juana) Did you sleep well?	¿Dormiste bien?

Preterite ER/IR verbs

Now let’s learn how to conjugate “er/ir” spine or preterite verbs. The endings are exactly the same for both “er” as well as “ir” verbs.

We’ll use the verb “comer” as an example”.

I ate would be	(Yo) comí		We ate would be	(Nosotros) comimos  As you can see, for Nosotros, the ending for “er” and “ir” verbs is the same – “imos”. However, it’s important to note that the “er” verb ending changes from present to past, for example, “we eat” would be “nosotros comemos” and “we ate” in the past would be “nosotros comimos”. On the other hand, the “ir” verb endings are the same in the present and the past. The only way to tell the difference is by the context. For example, “salimos ayer” would be “we left yesterday”. And “Siempre salimos temprano” would be “We always leave early”.
Juan or María, You ate would be	(Tú) comiste		(tú plural – used only in Spain) would be	(Vosotros) comisteis
He ate would be She ate would be You ate would be	(El) comió  (Ella) comió  (Ud.) comió		They ate would be They (women) ate would be All of you ate would be	(Ellos) comieron  (Ellas) comieron  (Uds.) comieron

Now take a look at the endings one more time.

í	imos
iste	isteis
ió	ieron

Even though the endings for “ir” verbs are the same as “er” verbs, we’ll still take a look at an “ir” verb to give you an example: We’ll use the verb “vivir”.

Yo viví	Nosotros vivimos
Tú viviste	Vosotros vivisteis
El, Ella, or Ud. vivió	Ellos, ellas, or Uds. vivieron

Now we’ll practice the “er” “ir” endings with a few different verbs. Are you ready?

I promised	(Yo) prometí
You sold – using “tú”	(Tú) vendiste
He ran	(Él) corrió
She decided	(Ella) decidió
You lived – using “usted”	(Ud.) vivió
We opened	(Nosotros) abrimos
They learned	(Ellos) aprendieron
All of you wrote	(Uds.) escribieron

Now that you’ve learned the “er/ir” verb endings, you need to know that there is a lone “ar” verb that didn’t like his friends in the “ar” group and has chosen to use the “er/ir” endings for past tense. It is the verb “dar” which means “to give”. Take a look at the spine, or preterite, endings for “dar”.

I gave is	dí		We gave is	dimos
You gave, with “tú” is	diste		All of you gave (using vosotros in Spain) is	disteis
He, she, or you gave (using Ud.) is	dio		They or all of you gave is	dieron

Before we start practicing, let’s learn a few new Spanish expressions. Are you ready?

For three days – Por tres días
For five years - Por cinco años 
For ten months - Por diez meses 
For fifteen minutes - Por quince minutos
For eight hours - Por ocho horas 
Three days ago - Hace tres días  
Four weeks ago – Hace cuatro meses 
Ten months ago - Hace diez meses 
Five years ago - Hace cinco años 
Fifteen minutes ago - Hace quince minutos 
Eight hours ago - Hace ocho horas.  

 Practice Session 

Now, let’s go ahead and practice the “er/ir” spine verb endings. Here we go.

I drank it (starts with ‘b’)	Lo bebí
(Marta) Did you eat it?	¿Lo comiste?
He learned it	Lo aprendió
She promised	Prometió
(Sra. Benites) You didn’t see it (el edificio)	No lo vio
We sold it 3 days ago	Lo vendimos hace tres días
They surprised us six days ago	Nos sorprendieron hace seis días
All of you attended for four months	Asistieron por cuatro meses
I didn’t understand (starts with ‘c’)	No comprendí
She gave it to Juan	Lo dio a Juan
(Martín) You decided three years ago	Decidiste hace tres años
He lived there for two years	Vivió por dos años
She opened it (la puerta) five minutes ago	La abrió hace cinco minutos
(Sr. Mendes) You received it three weeks ago	Lo recibió hace tres semanas
We wrote it (la carta) two days ago	La escribimos hace dos días
I gave it to María	Lo di a María
They lost it (la llave) two months ago	La perdieron hace dos meses
I didn’t understand it (starts with ‘e’)	No lo entendí
It rained for three weeks	Llovió por tres semanas
(Marta) You chose them two years ago	Los escogiste hace dos años
He left one month  ago	Salió hace un mes

Preterite AR verbs

Let’s learn how to conjugate “ar” spine verbs or otherwise called the “preterite” tense. We’ll use the verb “hablar” which means “to talk or speak”.

If I want to say I spoke, I would say	(Yo) hablé	We spoke would be	(Nosotros) hablamos  Notice that this conjugation is the same as the present tense. This is correct and the only way to tell the difference between present and the past spine tense is by the context. For example, “hablamos ayer” would be “we spoke yesterday”. And, “hablamos hoy” would be “We speak today”.
To say Juan or María, You spoke I would say	(Tú) hablaste	(tú plural – used only in Spain) would be	(Vosotros) hablasteis
He spoke would be She spoke would be You spoke would be	(El) habló  (Ella) habló  (Ud.) habló	They spoke would be They (women) spoke would be All of you spoke would be	(Ellos) hablaron  (Ellas) hablaron  (Uds.) hablaron

Now take a look at the Spine AR endings one more time and repeat them.

é	amos
aste	asteis
ó	aron

Now let’s try a few of these:

I spoke	Hablé
You spoke	Hablaste
He spoke	Habló
She spoke	Habló
You spoke	Habló
We spoke	Hablamos
They spoke	Hablaron
They spoke	Hablaron
All of you spoke	Hablaron

Let’s take one more look at the “ar” spine verb endings:

é	amos
aste	asteis
ó	aron

Now we’ll practice with a few different verbs. Are you ready?

I danced	(Yo) bailé
You rested – using “tú”	(Tú) descansaste
He studied	(Él) estudió
She visited	(Ella) visitó
You traveled – using “usted”	(Ud.) viajó
We called	(Nosotros) llamamos
They drove	(Ellos) manejaron
All of you practiced	(Uds.) practicaron

How did you do? Before going on to the practice session, we need to learn a few new words and take a look at some usage situations.

First our new Vocabulary 
the milk           la leche
all night           toda la noche
this morning    esta mañana
yesterday         ayer
the window     la ventana
the beans         los frijoles
last night         anoche 
the party          la fiesta
never               nunca
a lot                 mucho
last month       el mes pasado

Now we’ll take a brief look at a couple of usage situations. The verb “to enter” in Spanish is “entrar”. If you add a location after the word “entrar”, you need to put the word “en” afterwards. – For example, if you say I enter the house, in Spanish you would say “Entro en la casa” and if you say “I enter the car” you would say “Entro en el carro”.

Now, our final usage example: When you say “to try”, then add another verb, you have to add the word “de” between them. For example: “I tried to eat” – in past tense - would be “traté de comer”, the phrase “He tried to run would be “trató de correr”, and the phrase “We tried to speak” would be “tratamos de hablar” Remember, the AR verb “nosotros” form is the same in the present tense as well as the past tense. In the following Practice Session, you’ll have the chance to conjugate many ar spine verbs.

Practice Session 

Now, we’ll go ahead and begin our “ar” spine verb practice. As usual, you’ll read a phrase in English and you try to conjugate it into Spanish.

I answered	Yo contesté
(Marta) You bought it (la leche)	La compraste
He called her yesterday.	La llamó ayer
She changed it.	Lo cambió
(Sra. Benites) You didn’t clean it (la ventana)	No la limpió
We cooked them (los frijoles) yesterday	Los cocinamos ayer
They danced last night.	Bailaron anoche
All of you drew one.	Dibujaron uno
I drove to the store.	Manejé a la tienda
(Martín) You ate dinner last night.	Cenaste anoche
He explained it well.	Lo explicó bien
She fixed it yesterday	Lo arregló ayer
(Sr. Mendes) You helped me this morning	Me ayudó esta mañana
We invited them (ellos) last week	Los invitamos la semana pasada
They kept the money.	Guardaron el dinero
All of you listened well.	Escucharon bien
I watched TV last week.	Miré la televisión la semana pasada
(Juana) You painted it (la casa) last week	La pintó la semana pasada
He planned the party	Planeó la fiesta
She rested a lot this morning	Descansó mucho esta mañana
(Sra. Olivares) You never returned.	Nunca regresó
We sent it (la carta) yesterday	La mandamos ayer
They never sang it (la canción)	Nunca la cantaron
All of you studied a lot.	Estudiaron mucho
I swam last month	Nadé el mes pasado
I entered the store	Entré en la tienda
(Martín) You never took it	Nunca lo tomaste
He traveled last month	Viajó el mes pasado
She used it (la computadora) a lot	La usó mucho
(Sr. Mendoza) You visited them (ellos)	Los visitó
We waited for her all night	La esperamos toda la noche
She tried to eat	Trató de comer
They walked to the park last month	Caminaron al parque el mes pasado
All of you worked a lot last month	Trabajaron mucho el mes pasado.