Irregular Preterite IR and SER Both verbs conjugate the same in preterite tense… so how can you tell them apart?

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The verbs we are working with are IRREGULAR verbs. These verbs are considered “irregular” because they DO NOT HAVE a PATTERN. SER is almost always an irregular verb. IR has no stem so it, too, is almost always irregular.

They went. / You (all) went. IR – TO GO NOSOTROS NOSOTRAS IR FUIMOS YO IR FUI I went. We went. VOSOTROS VOSOTRAS TÚ FUISTE IR IR FUISTEIS You (all) went. You went. ÉL ELLA Ud. Uds. ELLOS ELLAS FUE IR FUERON IR He/She went. / You went. They went. / You (all) went.

Let’s practice. On your white board write the correct CONJUGTAED FORM of IR you would use to complete the sentence.

Los niños _____ a recibir juguetes. FUERON

Tú _____ al hospital el 15 de enero. FUISTE

Yo ___ al baile con Cristina. FUI

Usted ___ al cine con nosotros. FUE

Let’s look at the verb SER.

He/She/It was. / You were. They were. / You (all) were. SER – TO BE NOSOTROS NOSOTRAS SER FUIMOS YO SER FUI I was. We were. VOSOTROS VOSOTRAS TÚ FUISTE SER SER FUISTEIS You (all) were. You were. ÉL ELLA Ud. Uds. ELLOS ELLAS FUE SER FUERON SER He/She/It was. / You were. They were. / You (all) were.

Let’s practice. On your white board write the correct CONJUGATED FORM of SER you would use to complete the sentence.

Yo no _____ el estudiante con quien hablaste ayer. FUI

Anteayer tú _____ muy amable conmigo. FUISTE

¿Por qué _____ importante la información? FUE

Al restaurante anoche, la comida _____ muy sabrosa. FUE

SER and IR are conjugated EXACTLY THE SAME in preterite tense. So… how are you going to know to translate the verb as “was/were” versus “went”?

Clue words for IR ¿Adónde? A + Infinitive AL A + LA/LAS/LOS + a place

Clue words for SER Adjectives (description, personality, nationality) Profession, time and possession, which are uses of SER, are usually NOT preterite tense.

In addition, please write the INFINITIVE that the verb represents. Let’s practice. On your white board write the correct CONJUGATED FORM you would use to complete the sentence. In addition, please write the INFINITIVE that the verb represents.

Por ejemplo: Yo ___ a la Plaza Mayor ayer. FUI, IR

¿Por qué ___ Uds. al centro comercial sin dinero? FUERON, IR

¡Anoche ___ fantástico! FUE, SER

La Navidad pasada ___ la peor. FUE, SER

Nosotros _____ a las motañas para esquiar durante las vacaciones. FUIMOS, IR

So… what do you remember? Which 2 verbs conjugate exactly the same in preterite? What is the “yo” form of these verbs? Do any of the forms have accents on them? What question word is often used with IR? If the sentence contained an adjective, would you translate the verb as IR or SER?