despedir Preterite Conjugation
despedir — to fire
Despedir has a stem change (e > i) only in the third-person forms: despidió and despidieron.
despedir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about a specific instance when someone was fired or when someone said goodbye at a definite point in time.
Notes on despedir in the Preterite
This is a 'slipper verb.' While most forms are regular, the third-person singular (él/ella/usted) and plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) change the 'e' to 'i'.
Example Sentences
El jefe despidió a tres empleados ayer.
The boss fired three employees yesterday.
él/ella/usted
Me despedí de mis padres en el aeropuerto.
I said goodbye to my parents at the airport.
yo
Los gerentes despidieron a Juan por llegar tarde.
The managers fired Juan for arriving late.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'despedió' for the first person.
Correct: The yo form is despedí.
Why: Learners often over-apply the stem change to all forms instead of just the third person.
Mistake: Saying 'despedieron' with an 'e'.
Correct: It should be despidieron.
Why: In the preterite, -ir stem-changers must use the 'i' in the third-person plural.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: despido
Despedir is a stem-changing verb (e > i) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect
yo: despedía
Despedir is regular in the imperfect: despedía, despedías, despedía, despedíamos, despedíais, despedían.
Future
yo: despediré
Despedir is completely regular in the future tense, using the full infinitive as the base.
Conditional
yo: despediría
The conditional of despedir is regular and formed by adding endings to the infinitive: despediría.
Present Subjunctive
yo: despida
The present subjunctive of despedir stem-changes e > i in ALL forms, including nosotros.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: despidiera
Based on the third-person preterite, the imperfect subjunctive uses the 'i' stem: despidiera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: despide
The imperative uses 'despide' for tú and 'despida' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no despidas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no despidas, no despida.