PAST TENSE  El Pretérito

3. Verbs that end in a vowel

There are a few exception from the regular conjugation: The third person singular form (él, ella, usted) uses the ending yó (rather than ió). The third person plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) uses the ending yeron (rather than ieron). The remaining forms gain a written accent over the letter “i”.

For example: leer- to read Yo leí Tú leíste Él, Ella, Ud. leyó Nosotros leímos Vosotros leísteis Ellos, Uds. leyeron

Verbs that follow the same Pattern as “LEER” caer (to fall) creer (to think/believe) leer (to read) oír (to hear) roer (to gnaw)

Verbs that end in -uir change in the same way, but the written accent over the letter "i" only occurs in the yo form. For example: construir- to construct Yo construí Tú construiste Él, Ella, Usted construyó Nosotros construimos Vosotros construisteis Ellos, Uds. construyeron

Here are more examples of the Spelling- Change Verbs: construir (to construct) incluir (to include) influir (to influence)

4. Stem-Changing Verbs

1. The infinitive of the verb ends in –IR. The only verbs that have a stem change in the Past Tense are those that meet the following three requirements:   1. The infinitive of the verb ends in –IR. 2. The verb WAS a stem-changing verb in the present tense. 3. It does NOT fall into any other category of PRETERITE * -ar and –er verbs that changed stems in the present tense do NOT change stems in the preterite- they are conjugated like all other regular preterite verbs: ex: ENCONTRAR, VOLAR.

In preterite, there are two types of stem changes:   If the stem contains an “e”, it changes to an “i” ( E to I ) sentir > sintió If the stem contains an “o,” it changes to a “u” ( O to U ) dormir > durmió

In preterite, the stem ONLY changes in two forms: Third Person Singular ( él, ella, Ud.)    Third Person Plural (ellos, ellas, Uds.)

Some examples: E to I O to U él, ella, Ud. repitió durmió REPETIR - (to repeat) O to U DORMIR- (to sleep) yo repetí dormí tú repetiste dormiste él, ella, Ud. repitió durmió Nosotros repetimos dormimos vosotros repetisteis dormisteis ellos, ellas, Uds. repitieron durmieron

Here are some verbs that change the stem from E to I verbs: Competir- to compete Requerir- to require, to need Conseguir- to get, to obtain Seguir- to follow, to continue Divertirse- to have fun, to enjoy oneself Sentirse- to feel Pedir- to request, to ask for Servir- to serve Preferir- to prefer Vestirse- to dress oneself Repetir- to repeat Freir – to fry And O to U verbs: Dormir- to sleep Morir- to die