Irregular Preterit Forms (Formas irregulares del pretérito) 9 de febrero de 2005 Diario, hoy fue un día extraordinario...

 Irregular preterit forms The verbs ser and ir are conjugated identically in the preterit. The context of the sentence or the situation will clarify the meaning. ser, irfui fuiste fue fuimos fuisteis fueron Notice that the first- and third-persons singular, fui and fue, do not bear a written accent. As we learned earlier, single- syllable preterit forms need no written accent. ser, ir

Irregular preterit forms ser, ir La fiesta fue en casa de Jorge, pero Jorge mismo no fue. The party was at Jorge’s house, but Jorge himself didn’t go. Yo fui a la comisaría de policía para asegurarles que el que cometió el crimen no fui yo. I went to the police station to assure them that I was not the one who committed the crime.

estar tener estuv- tuv-   Irregular preterit forms e (no accent) iste o (no accent) imos isteis ieron Notice that estar, andar and tener have a similar change in their stems... and take the same verb endings, even though estar and andar are -ar verbs, and tener an -er verb. estar, andar, tener andar anduv- 

Irregular preterit forms Estuve en España por tres meses. I was in Spain for three months. ¿Por qué no estuviste en clase ayer? Why weren’t you in class yesterday? estar → estuv e (no accent) iste o (no accent) imos isteis ieron Carlos estuvo estudiando todo el día. Carlos was studying all day. Estuvimos enfermos en casa la semana pasada. We were sick at home last week. Carla y Olga estuvieron en la fiesta. Carla and Olga were at the party.

Irregular preterit forms Anduve a la escuela esta mañana. I walked to school this morning. ¿Anduviste solo o acompañado? Did you walk alone or with someone? andar → anduv El niño anduvo por primera vez a los doce meses. The child walked for the first time at twelve months of age. Anduvimos por el parque y fuimos al museo. We walked through the park and went to the museum. Los novios anduvieron juntos por la plaza. The lovers walked together around the plaza. e (no accent) iste o (no accent) imos isteis ieron

Irregular preterit forms Tuve suerte jugando a la lotería. I had luck playing the lottery. ¿Tuviste un resfriado el mes pasado? Did you have a cold last month? tener → tuv Ana tuvo que trabajar la Víspera del Año Nuevo. Ana had to work on New Year’s Eve. Tuvimos una habitación muy cómoda en el hotel. We had a very comfortable room in the hotel. Ester y Roberto tuvieron una boda muy linda. Ester and Roberto had a very lovely wedding. e (no accent) iste o (no accent) imos isteis ieron

Irregular preterit forms dar The -ar verb dar is conjugated in the preterit as if it were a regular -er/-ir verb. di diste dio dimos disteis dieron Again, since the first- and third-persons singular di and dio consist of a single syllable, they need no written accent.

Irregular preterit forms Le di un regalito a mi novia. I gave a little gift to my girlfriend. Diste una fiesta de bienvenida para Tito, ¿no? You gave a welcoming party for Tito, didn’t you? dar Teodoro me dio las entradas para el concierto. Teodoro gave me the tickets for the concert. Les dimos limosnas a los pobres. We gave alms to the poor. Los profesores no dieron clases este verano. The professors didn’t give (teach) classes this summer.

Irregular preterit forms ver The verb ver is a regular -er verb in the preterit but, of course, its first- and third-persons singular have no written accent since they are single-syllable forms. vi viste vio vimos visteis vieron

Irregular preterit forms Vi a Ernesto ayer en el almacén. I saw Ernesto yesterday in the department store. ¿Viste la última película de Pedro Almodóvar? Did you see Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film? ver Mi hermano vio al delincuente robar la tienda. My brother saw the criminal rob the store. Vimos las fotos que Juan sacó en Chile. We saw the photos that Juan took in Chile. Los niños vieron a Papá Noel en el centro. The children saw Santa Claus downtown.

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