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1.15: Verbos que cambian de significado en el pretérito

  • Page ID
    158563
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    Verbs that change in meaning in the preterite

    We are going to study the verbs that change its meaning from present to preterite tense in Spanish. These are the following verbs:

    Saber

    Subject pronoun Present tense Preterite tense
    Yo supe
    sabes supiste

    Usted, él, ella

    sabe

    supo

    Nosotros, nosotras sabemos supimos

    Ustedes, ellos, ellas

    saben supieron

    In the present tense, "saber" is used to express "to know something" (knowledge, fact) and "to know how to do something" (skill).

    • Yo sé la capital de los Estados Unidos. Es Washington DC.
    • Nosotros sabemos bailar tango.

    In the preterite tense, "saber" is used to express "to find out about something" (found out, realized). The preterite tense of "saber" are highlighted in bold.

    • El sábado pasado en la reunión familiar, supe que mi prima Elizabeth va a casarse en la primavera.
      Last Saturday in the family gathering, I found out that my cousin Elizabeth is going to get married in the Spring.

    Conocer

    Subject pronoun Present tense Preterite tense
    Yo conozco conocí
    conoces conociste

    Usted, él, ella

    conoce

    conoció

    Nosotros, nosotras conocemos conocimos

    Ustedes, ellos, ellas

    conocen conocieron

    In the present tense, "conocer" is used to express "to know or to be acquainted or familiar with a person, a place, or a thing".

    • Yo conozco bien la capital de los Estados Unidos. Viví en esta ciudad por varios años.
    • Leticia conoce a todos los padres de sus estudiantes.

    In the preterite tense, "conocer" is used to express "to meet someone for the first time" (met). Personal "a" is used after the verb conocer. The preterite tense of "conocer" are highlighted in bold.

    • Anoche en la casa de Arturo, nosotros conocimos a sus abuelitos.
      Last night at Arturo's house, we met his grandparents.

    Poder

    Subject pronoun Present tense Preterite tense
    Yo puedo pude
    puedes pudiste

    Usted, él, ella

    puede

    pudo

    Nosotros, nosotras podemos pudimos

    Ustedes, ellos, ellas

    pueden pudieron

    In the present tense, "poder" means "to be able to" or "can", and "no poder" means "not be able to" or "cannot."

    • ¿Puedes ir al concierto con nosotros la próxima semana?
      • Lo siento, no puedo ir. Tengo que trabajar.

    In the preterite tense, "poder" in the affirmative means "managed or succeeded in doing something," while "no poder" means "failed after attempting to do something." The preterite tense examples of poder are highlighted in bold.

    • Anoche pude entregar mis tareas antes de la medianoche. ¿Y Carlos?
      Last night I managed to turn in my homework before midnight. How about Carlos?
      • Desafortunadamente, Carlos no pudo entregarlas a tiempo.
        Unfortunately Carlos failed to turn them in on time.

    Querer

    Subject pronoun Present tense Preterite tense
    Yo quiero quise
    quieres quisiste

    Usted, él, ella

    quiere

    quiso

    Nosotros, nosotras queremos quisimos

    Ustedes, ellos, Ellas

    quieren quisieron

    In the present tense, "querer" means "to want" or "to love," and "no querer" means "to not want."

    • ¿Qué quieren hacer esta noche?
      • Esta noche no queremos hacer nada. Preferimos estar en casa.
    • Mami, te queremos mucho.

    In the preterite tense, "querer" means "tried to," while "no querer" means "refused." The preterite tense of "querer" are highlighted in bold.

    • Arturo quiso ir a la fiesta de Mariela, pero tuvo que trabajar.
      Arturo tried to go to Mariela's party, but he had to work.
    • Paola y Laura no quisieron salir con Fabio y Daniel.
      Paola and Laura refused to go out with Fabio and Daniel.

    Videolección

    By clicking on the icon below, you can hear a video lesson about these four verbs and how their meaning changes in the preterite.

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    ¡A practicar!

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    Actividad \(\PageIndex{2}\)

    This page combines 7.4: Verbos que cambian de significado en el pretérito and 7.4.1: Práctica- Verbos que cambian de significado en el pretérito by M. Barrio De Mendoza, K Gutiérrez, H.Ho, C. Lin, & A Stere Lugo through ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.