How to Form the Preterite in Spanish

Transcripción

1 How to Form the Preterite in Spanish The preterite is probably the most difficult verb conjugation to deal with in Spanish. Learning how to conjugate verbs correctly in the preterite is mostly a matter of memorization and practice. The following is a quick reference guide designed to help you learn and study the formation of the preterite in a simple and organized manner. I. COMPLETELY REGULAR VERBS (JUST ADD ENDINGS): Most verbs are completely regular in the preterite. In order to conjugate them correctly, all you have to do is simply add the correct ending onto the stem. Observe the following regular verb endings for the preterite. Notice that er verbs and ir verbs have the same set of endings. Also, note that the nosotros forms in the preterite are identical to those in the present tense for ar and ir verbs. Any potential confusion is cleared up through the context in which the forms are used. ar verb endings -er and ir verb endings yo tú él, ella, Ud. -é -aste -ó nosotros vosotros ellos, ellas, Uds. -amos -asteis -aron yo tú él, ella, Ud. -í -iste -ió nosotros vosotros ellos, ellas, Uds. -imos -isteis -ieron Here are examples of a regular ar verb, -er verb and ir verb conjugated in the preterite: hablar comer vivir hablé hablaste habló hablamos hablasteis hablaron comí comiste comió comimos comisteis comieron viví viviste vivió vivimos vivisteis vivieron Examples of other verbs that are conjugated the exact same way are: bailar, desear, cantar, escuchar, estudiar, necesitar, trabajar, comprar, beber, aprender, vender, comprender, escribir, abrir, asistir, recibir, etc. OJO!: The verb ver is regular in the preterite, but none of its forms have a written accent mark. ver vi viste vio vimos visteis vieron David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 1

2 II. REGULAR VERBS THAT HAVE SPELLING CHANGES: Some verbs in the preterite have regular endings, but they have spelling changes in one or more forms. SPELLING CHANGES FOR YO FORMS OF REGULAR -AR VERBS Verbs that end in car, -gar, and zar in the infinitive have a spelling change in the yo form in the preterite (which has the é ending) in order to accurately represent the way they are pronounced and to conform to spelling rules. These forms are not irregular; only the spelling is adjusted, and it only applies to the yo form. The other 5 forms do not have this spelling change. Examples of verbs that have these spelling changes are jugar, llegar, pagar, buscar, sacar, aparcar, tocar, empezar, comenzar, almorzar, organizar, etc. Type of verb spelling change verbs ending in car c qu verbs ending in gar verbs ending in zar g gu z c tocar (c qu) llegar (g gu) cruzar (z c) toqué tocaste tocó tocamos tocasteis tocaron llegué llegaste llegó llegamos llegasteis llegaron crucé cruzaste cruzó cruzamos cruzasteis cruzaron SPELLING CHANGES FOR REGULAR VERBS ENDING IN EER, -AER, -OER AND OÍR: When the infinitive form of a verb ends in eer, -aer, oer or -oír the unstressed i- between the two vowels in the 3 rd person forms (él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.) becomes a y- in the preterite. For verbs like these, the i- in the other 4 preterite forms (yo, tú, nosotros, vosotros) is written with an accent mark. leer creer caer leí leíste leyó leímos leísteis leyeron creí creíste creyó creímos creísteis creyeron caí caíste cayó caímos caísteis cayeron poseer oír roer poseí poseíste poseyó poseímos poseísteis poseyeron oí oíste oyó oímos oísteis oyeron roí roíste royó roímos roísteis royeron David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 2

3 OJO!: The verb traer does not follow this pattern. It is irregular in the preterite and thus conjugated completely differently. (Read on.) SPELLING CHANGE FOR VERBS ENDING IN UIR: For verbs whose infinitive forms end in uir, the unstressed i- between the two vowels in the 3 rd person forms (él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.) also becomes a y- in the preterite. However, only the yo form has an accent mark on the i-. Examples of verbs ending in uir are construir, destruir, contribuir, distribuir, huir, fluir influir, incluir, etc. construir influir huir construí construiste construyó construimos construisteis construyeron influí influiste influyó influimos influisteis influyeron huí huiste huyó huimos huisteis huyeron SPELLING CHANGES FOR VERBS ENDING IN ÑIR AND -LLIR: For verbs whose infinitive forms end in ñir or llir, the i- in the endings of the 3 rd person forms (él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.) is dropped in the preterite. Examples of verbs ending in ñir are gruñir (to growl), plañir (to mourn), teñir (e i) (to dye) bruñir (to polish), ceñir (e i) (to cling), reñir (e i) (to scold, to quarrel), etc. Examples of verbs ending in llir are tullir (to cripple, maim), bullir (to boil), zambullirse (to dive, plunge), escabullirse (to slip away, escape), etc. gruñir plañir bullir gruñí gruñiste gruñó gruñimos gruñisteis gruñeron plañí plañiste plañó plañimos plañisteis plañeron bullí bulliste bulló bullimos bullisteis bulleron III. STEM-CHANGING VERBS IN THE PRETERITE: -AR AND ER VERBS: In the preterite, -AR verbs and ER verbs NEVER HAVE A STEM CHANGE in any of their forms! pensar volver jugar (present tense e ie) (present tense o ue) (present tense u ue) (preterite: no change) (preterite: no change) (preterite: no change) pensé pensaste pensó pensamos pensasteis pensaron volví volviste volvió volvimos volvisteis volvieron jugué jugaste jugó jugamos jugasteis jugaron David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 3

4 Since ar and er verbs NEVER have a stem-change in the preterite, the following verbs NEVER have a stem change in the preterite: empezar, entender, pensar, perder, almorzar, cerrar, comenzar, despertarse, nevar, llover, recomendar, sentarse, acostarse, contar, encontrar, costar, doler, mostrar, probar, resolver, volar, etc. -IR VERBS: The only type of verbs that have a stem change in the preterite are ir verbs that have a stem change in the present tense. In the present tense, there are 3 possible types of stem-changes that verbs ending in ir have. These are: e i, e ie, o ue. To refresh your memory, here are examples of -ir verbs, conjugated in the present tense, that have each of these types of stem-changes. Present tense forms of stem-changing verbs ending in ir: pedir divertirse dormir (present e i) (present e ie) (present o ue) pido pedimos me divierto nos divertimos duermo dormimos pides pedís te diviertes os divertís duermes dormís pide piden se divierte se divierten duerme duermen In the present tense, stem-changing verbs have a stem-change in all forms except the nosotros and vosotros forms. When a line is drawn around all of the forms with a stem change, the shape resembles a boot. Thus, verbs like these are sometimes called boot verbs because of their conjugation in the present tense. Verbs ending in ir that have a stem change in the present tense also have one in the preterite, but it is a different type of stem change. Ir verbs that have an e i (like pedir) or an e ie stem change (like divertirse) in the present tense will have an e i stem change in the preterite. Those that have an o ue stem change in the present tense (like dormir) will have an o u stem change in the preterite. The stem change in the preterite ONLY applies to the 3 rd person forms (él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.). The preterite endings for these verbs are always regular. Stem changes for stem-changing verbs ending in ir: If an ir verb has this type of stem change the in the present tense e i and e ie (in all forms except nosotros and vosotros) o ue (in all forms except nosotros and vosotros) It will have this type of stem change in preterite. e i (in only the third person forms: él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.) o u (in only the third person forms: él, ella, Ud. / ellos, ellas, Uds.) David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 4

5 Preterite forms of stem-changing verbs ending in ir: pedir divertirse dormir (preterite e i) (preterite e i) (preterite o u) pedí pedimos me divertí nos divertimos dormí dormimos pediste pedisteis te divertiste os divertisteis dormiste dormisteis pidió pidieron se divirtió se divirtieron durmió durmieron Verbs that have this type of stem change in the preterite are sometimes called sandal verbs, because when a line is drawn around the forms with a stem change, its shape resembles a flat type of footwear as opposed to a boot. OJO!: If the textbook you are using is Puntos de Partida or Qué tal?, you may have noticed letters and commas in parentheses that are listed next to stem-changing verbs that end in ir. Here are a few examples: sugerir (ie, i) = present tense: e ie, preterite: e i servir (i, i) = present tense: e i, preterite: e i morir (ue, u) = present tense: o ue, preterite: o u The first letter or pair of letters indicates the result of the present tense stem change. For sugerir, the ie indicates that the e changes to ie in the present tense, or that it is an e ie stem changing verb in the present tense. For servir, the first i shows that the e changes to i in the present tense, or that it is an e i stem-changing verb in the present tense. For morir, the ue indicates that the o changes to ue in the present tense, or that it is an o ue stem-changing verb. The second letter (after the comma) indicates the result of the preterite stem change. For sugerir and servir, the i shows that there is an e i stem change in the preterite. For morir, the u, indicates that there is an o u stem change in the preterite. When stem-changing verbs that end in ar and er are listed, there is only one set of letters in parentheses, which is the result of their present tense stem change. Since ar and er verbs have no stem change in the preterite, there is none listed. pensar (ie) = present tense e ie (no stem change in preterite) acostarse (ue) = present tense o ue (no stem change in preterite) OJO!: Remember that if a stem-changing verb of any kind has more than one vowel that looks like it could change (o, or e), the second one is always the one that changes. preferir, comenzar, despedirse, etc. Preterite forms of reír and sonreír: These two verbs carry regular endings in the present tense and in the preterite, but they have an e i stem change in both conjugations. Do not let the fact that the e is at David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 5

6 the end of the stem of the verb confuse you. Both verbs are conjugated in the exact same way. The present tense and preterite forms of reír are shown below. reír present tense preterite (e i) (e i) río reímos reí reímos ríes reís reíste reísteis ríe ríen rió rieron In the forms in which the i- is stressed, it has an accent mark to show that it and the vowel it is next to are pronounced as 2 separate vowels instead of as a diphthong (when 2 vowels combine to form one vowel sound). In the 3 rd person plural form (ellos, ellas, Uds.) in the preterite, the i- at the end of the stem (that changed from e i) and the i- at the beginning of the regular preterite ending (-ieron) merge together and thus only one i- is written instead of two together (which never happens anyway). IV. VERBS THAT ARE IRREGULAR IN THE PRETERITE: Some verbs in the preterite have special irregular stems and must take a special set of endings. You simply must remember which verbs have irregular stems in the preterite, how the stems are spelled and the set of endings all of these verbs take. This is easier than you may think, for there is regularity to their irregularity. Here are some examples of such verbs in the preterite. estar querer venir stem = estuv- stem = quis- stem = vin- estuve estuviste estuvo estuvimos estuvisteis estuvieron quise quisiste quiso quisimos quisisteis quisieron vine viniste vino vinimos vinisteis vinieron All verbs that have an irregular stem in the preterite all have the same set of endings, and none of them have accent marks. preterite endings for verbs with irregular stems yo tú él, ella, Ud. -e -iste -o nosotros vosotros ellos, ellas, Uds. -imos -isteis -ieron Memorizing which verbs have an irregular stem in the preterite and how the stem is spelled can be made easier by putting them into different categories. Here is a list of these types of verbs and their irregular preterite stems. David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 6

7 irregular preterite stem irregular preterite stem irregular preterite stem contains a u- contains an i- ends in jestar --- estuvtener --- tuvandar --- anduvpoder --- pudponer --- pussaber --- suphaber --- hubcaber --- cupvenir --- vinquerer --- quishacer --- hicdecir --- dijtraer --- trajconducir --- condujproducir --- produjtraducir --- tradujand any other verb ending in -ucir OJO!: The verb hacer in the preterite has a spelling change in the 3 rd person singular (él, ella, Ud.) form, in which the c changes to a z, making the form hizo. OJO!: For verbs whose preterite stem ends in j-, the i- of the 3 rd person plural ending in the preterite is omitted (-eron). hacer decir traer stem = hic- stem = dij- stem = traj- hice hiciste hizo hicimos hicisteis hicieron dije dijiste dijo dijimos dijisteis dijeron traje trajiste trajo trajimos trajisteis trajeron OJO!: The preterite form of hay (there is, there are) is hubo (there was, there were). Hay and its preterite form hubo are both derived from the verb haber, which you will learn a lot more about as you continue to study Spanish. V. THE VERBS DAR, SER AND IR IN THE PRETERITE: The verbs dar, ser and ir are completely irregular in the preterite. Dar, though it is an ar verb, is conjugated like an ir verb in the preterite with no accent marks. Ser and ir are conjugated exactly identically in the preterite. Any potential confusion this may cause is cleared up though the context in which the two verbs are used. dar ir / ser di diste dio dimos disteis dieron fui fuiste fue fuimos fuisteis fueron OJO!: To keep yourself from getting the ir / ser forms fui and fue confused, it may help to remember that fui, the one ending in i-, means I went or I was. David B. Roby Ph.D. robydavid@yahoo.com 7