1.10: Los pretéritos irregulares, parte 1
- Page ID
- 240445
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Irregular preterites, part 1
The preterite tense is the most difficult tense to learn in terms of conjugation. First review what you learned in 5.6.0.
Now we will continue with the conjugations of some irregular verbs in preterite tense.
Stem-changing verbs ending in -ir
- In 4.3.0 you learned the 3 types of stem-changing verbs in the present tense: "e→i, o→ue, and e→i".
- In 5.6.0 you learned that stem-changing verbs ending in "-ar" and "-er" are conjugated as regular verbs in the preterite.
- You will now learn that stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir" have a stem-change only in the conjugations of "usted, él, ella" and "ustedes, ellos, ellas" (3rd person singular and plural). This stem-change is also different from the present tense. In preterite, you need to change "e→i, o→u". In the examples below, the preterite endings are in blue and the stem-change in the preterite conjugation is indicated in bold.
| Present | Preterite | Present | Preterite |
|---|---|---|---|
|
e → ie preferir prefiero preferimos prefieres preferís prefiere prefieren |
e → i preferir preferí preferimos preferiste preferisteis prefirió prefirieron |
o → ue dormir duermo dormimos duermes dormís duerme duermen |
o → u dormir dormí dormimos dorrmiste dormisteis durmió durmieron |
List of stem-changing verbs ending in "-ir"
Stem change "e" → "i"
The vowel highlighted in bold will have change "e" → "i" in the the conjugations of "usted, él, ella" and "ustedes, ellos, ellas" (3rd person singular and plural) in the preterite tense.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| advertir | to warn |
| conseguir | to get; to obtain |
| convertir | to convert |
| convertirse en | to become |
| despedir | to fire (job dismissal) |
| despedirse | to say goodbye |
| divertirse | to have fun |
| medir | to measure |
| mentir | to lie |
| pedir | to ask for (something) |
| preferir | to prefer |
| repetir | to repeat |
| seguir | to follow; to continue |
| sentir | to feel (regret) |
| sentirse | to feel |
| servir | to serve |
| vestir | to dress someone |
| vestirse | to get dressed |
Stem change "o" → "u"
The vowel highlighted in bold will have change "o" → "u" in the the conjugations of "usted, él, ella" and "ustedes, ellos, ellas" (3rd person singular and plural) in the preterite tense.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| dormir | to sleep |
| dormirse | to fall asleep |
| morir | to die |
| morirse | to die off (of something, ie: of love) |
Stems that end in a vowel for verbs ending in "-er" and "-ir"
- Observe that the stem of "-er" and "-ir" ending verbs of the verbs "leer", "caer", "oír" and "huir" end in a vowel.
- A written accent is needed on the "í" for the conjugations of "yo", "tú", "nosotros", and "vosotros".
- The vowel "i" of the ending in the conjugations of "usted, él, ella" and "ustedes, ellos, ellas" will change to "y". This is because the endings for "-er" and "-ir" are "ió" and "ieron" (whereas, verbs ending in "-ar" are just "-o" and "-aron").
| Leer - to read | Caer - to fall | Oír - to hear | Huír - to flee |
|---|---|---|---|
|
leí leímos leíste leísteis leyó leyeron |
caí caímos caíste caísteis cayó cayeron |
oí oímos oíste oísteis oyó oyeron |
huí huímos huíste huísteis huyó huyeron |
Note that in the conjugations above, the endings are in bold and the spelling change is indicated in blue.
The following video explains the preterit tense of stem-changing verbs in Spanish. It was created by Fresno City College Faculty.