Page 1 of 6 Figure It Out! He conocido a muchas personas simpáticas aquí en Idaho. Anoche, Fern y algunos otros muchachas y muchachos vinieron a mis casa. Fern me trajo una invitación a su fiesta de cumpleaños. Me dijo que la fiesta sería el próximo viernes, el 15 de octubre. Le dije, Felicitaciones! Me gustaría mucho venir a tu fiesta para celebrar contigo. Hablamos por un rato, y ellos salieron. El próximo día, yo fui a una tienda para comprar un regalo para Fern. Quise encontrar el regalo perfecto para ella, pero no pude encontrar nada. Me di cuenta que no podía ir sin el regalo perfecto! In the previous paragraph about this student's dilemma about the party, what do the underlined words have in common? What do they tell us regarding when this story takes place? How do they reveal the time frame of the story? Introduction Wouldn't it be nice if languages were perfectly regular and orderly? That way, you'd only have to learn one way to conjugate verbs and be done with it! You might think that way after wrestling with Spanish verbs for a while, but think again. A lot of what makes languages interesting and gives them character are the irregularities. And it just so happens that the most irregular verbs in both English and Spanish are also the most common ones. When you think about it, that's really an advantage for the learner; it gives you more opportunities to practice them. In this activity you'll review the common irregular verbs in the preterit tense. Preterit Tense: Irregular Verb Forms Irregular verbs in the preterit tense use a combination of the ar and the er and ir conjugations, as shown in the following table. REGULAR AR VERBS IRREGULAR VERBS REGULAR ER & IR VERBS é amos e imos í imos aste iste iste ó aron o (i)eron ió ieron Keep in mind: Irregular verbs in the preterit tense DO NOT have accent marks. In the 3 rd person plural form, the i- is in parentheses because it is omitted in some verb conjugations when the ending follows a j in the verb stem. (See examples of this on the following page. Preterit Tense: Irregular Verb Stems Other than having different endings, another thing that makes irregular verbs so irregular in the preterit tense is that some of the stems change. There are three types of irregular verb 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
Page 2 of 6 stems in the preterit: u, i, and j. The following two tables show these irregular stems along with some common verbs. IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PRETERIT TENSE: U AND I STEMS English Infinitives Verbs U and I Stems Endings (to walk) (to fit) (to be) (to have) (to be able) (to put) (to want) (to know) (to have) (to come) andar caber estar haber poder poner querer saber tener venir anduv cup estuv hub pud pus quis sup tuv vin e imos iste isteis o ieron IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PRETERIT TENSE: J STEMS English Infinitives Verbs J Stems Endings (to drive) (to say) (to produce) (to bring) (to translate) conducir decir producir traer traducir conduj dij produj traj traduj e imos iste isteis o eron Remember that the 3 rd person plural ending for j stem verbs in the preterit is eron, not ieron. Several Spanish verbs have been derived from other verbs. For example, the verbs convener, intervener, and prevenir are all derived from the verb venir. Any verbs that are derived from the two sets of irregular verbs shown in the tables above have the same irregularities in the preterit tense as the verbs from which they are derived. That means that verbs like convener, intervener, and prevenir will have the same preterit tense conjugations as the verb venir, just with the prefix added. The following table shows some of the more common ones. DERIVATIVES FROM IRREGULAR STEM VERBS IN THE PRETERIT TENSE decir bendecir, contradecir, predecir, etc. hacer deshacer, rehacer, satisfacer, etc. poner componer, imponer, oponer, proponer, reponer, suponer, etc. tener contener, detener, mantener, obtener, retener, sostener, etc. venir convenir, intervenir, prevenir, etc. 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
Page 3 of 6 traer atraer, contraer, distraer(se), etc. Example: obtuve, obtuviste, obtuvo, obtuvimos, obtuvisteis, obtuvieron. Preterit Tense: Other Irregular Verbs There are some verbs that are so irregular that their conjugations are unique; that is, they do not fit into any pattern. The following table shows the four most common irregular verbs in the preterit tense. MOST COMMON IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE PRETERIT TENSE SER (to be) IR (to go) HACER (to make) DAR (to give) fui fuimos fui fuimos hice hicimos di dimos fuiste fuisteis fuiste fuisteis hiciste hicisteis diste disteis fue fueron fue fueron hizo hicieron dio dieron You probably noticed that ser and ir have identical conjugations in the preterit. So this one is a "freebie." You only have to learn one irregular verb conjugation and you can apply it to two verbs. There aren't too many of these. Thank goodness these two verbs are used a lot! As stated earlier, any verbs derived from the previous set of the most common irregular verbs in the preterit tense have the same irregularities as the verbs from which they are derived. For example, deshacer, rehacer, and satisfacer are all conjugated like the verb hacer (i.e. rehice, rehiciste, rehizo, rehicimos, rehicisteis, rehicieron). 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
Page 4 of 6 Practice Questions A. Verb Conjugation Conjugate each of the following verbs in the preterit tense. ESTAR (to be) QUERER (to want) DECIR (to say) TRAER (to bring) SER (to be) HACER (to make) B. Sentence Completion: Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense Conjugate the verb in each of the following sentences in the preterit tense. Pay careful attention to the subject. 1. El músico (componer) nuevas canciones para la celebración de la Navidad. 2. Ayer (haber) un accidente en la calle durante el desfile. 3. Yo (tener) que hacer mi tarea antes de ir a la fiesta de cumpleaños. 4. Nosotros (ir) a la oficina del profesor para hablar con él. 5. La florista (poner) flores en el pastel de boda. 6. Los traductores (traducir) el libro en julio y agosto. 7. Cómo (caber) todos ustedes en aquel coche tan pequeño? 8. Los reyes magos (traer) regalos para los niños en el Día de Reyes. 9. La policía (producir) la evidencia de su culpabilidad. 10. Nosotros (conducir) nuestro auto a la primera comunión de nuestra prima. 11. Por qué no (poder) tú venir a la recepción este fin de semana? 12. Yo no (saber) de la fiesta para el Día de la Madre hasta muy tarde. 13. Las dos gemelas (atraer) la atención de los chicos durante la fiesta. 14. (andar) tú solo por todas las calles? 15. La mamá de Julia (hacer) el vestido de gala para su quinceañera. 16. La diplomacia (prevenir) una acción militar. 17. Durante aquel período nosotros (sostener) a nuestros padres. 18. (satisfacer) tú todos los requisitos de la clase? 19. Julia (tener) que bailar el bals con el papá anoche a las diez. 20. Aquellos dos estudiantes (contradecir) todo lo que (decir) el maestro. 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
Page 5 of 6 C. Tense Selection and Conjugation Conjugate the verb in parentheses in each of the following sentences in either the present tense or the preterit tense according to the English sentence that follows it. Look for contextual clues to help you determine the appropriate tense. Pay careful attention to the subject. 1. Mi padre (ser) el juez. My father was the judge. 2. Yo (querer) hacerlo. I wanted/tried to do it. 3. El contador (ir) al trabajo. The accountant goes to work. 4. (poner) todo en la basura? Did you guys put everything in the trash can? 5. (haber) un accidente. There was an accident. 6. (ser) usted médico? Are you a doctor? 7. Los conserjes (poner) todo en orden. The custodians put everything in last night. in order last night. 8. No (querer) menos tarea? You don't want less homework? 9. (haber) mucha gente aquí. There are a lot of people here. 10. Nosotros (ir) a la tienda ayer. We went to the store yesterday. D. Translation Translate each of the following short sentences. Make sure to conjugate correctly each irregular verb in the preterit tense according to the subject. 1. I did all of the homework for biology class on Thursday. 2. Why didn't you (tú) come to the party yesterday? 3. The baker had to make the wedding cake. 4. The priest gave instructions for the baptism. 5. You assumed I was planning our honeymoon. (suponer) 6. Several linguists translated the book. 7. We were at the wedding all day. 8. The executive produced the budget for the new year. 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.
Page 6 of 6 9. I went to see the fireworks. 10. The store clerks put the candles on the shelves. E. Writing Exercise Write original sentences using the following irregular verbs conjugated appropriately in the preterit tense. 1. ser (to be) 2. venir (to come) 3. hacer (to make) 4. dar (to give) 5. decir (to say) 6. ir (to go) 2006 All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.