hervir Preterite Conjugation
hervir — to boil
Hervir has a 'slipper' stem change (e > i) only in the third-person forms: hirvió and hirvieron.
hervir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to state that something finished boiling at a specific moment in the past.
Notes on hervir in the Preterite
The stem changes from 'e' to 'i' in the third-person singular (él/ella/usted) and plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes). Other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
El agua hirvió hace cinco minutos.
The water boiled five minutes ago.
él/ella/usted
Herví las verduras para la cena.
I boiled the vegetables for dinner.
yo
Las papas hirvieron demasiado tiempo.
The potatoes boiled for too long.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: hervió
Correct: hirvió
Why: In the preterite, -ir verbs with a stem change must shift e > i in the third person.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: hiervo
Hervir is an e > ie stem-changer in the present (hiervo, hierves, hierve, hierven), except for nosotros and vosotros.
Imperfect
yo: hervía
Hervir is completely regular in the imperfect: hervía, hervías, hervía, hervíamos, hervíais, hervían.
Future
yo: herviré
Hervir is regular in the future; just add the endings to the infinitive: herviré, hervirás, etc.
Conditional
yo: herviría
The conditional uses the full infinitive 'hervir' plus the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: hierva
Hervir changes e > ie in most forms, but importantly shifts e > i in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: hirviera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'hirvier-' stem for all forms (hirviera, hirvieras, etc.).
Affirmative Imperative
yo: hierve
Use 'hierve' for tú and 'hierva' for usted to give direct cooking instructions.
Negative Imperative
yo: no hiervas
All negative commands for hervir are identical to the present subjunctive forms preceded by 'no'.