oír Preterite Conjugation
oír — to hear
The preterite of oír uses 'y' in the third-person forms (oyó, oyeron) and adds accents to every 'i'.
oír Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for a sudden sound or a specific moment when you heard something. It marks a completed event rather than background noise.
Notes on oír in the Preterite
Oír undergoes a spelling change to 'y' in the third person to avoid three vowels in a row. Also, unlike most -ir verbs, the 'i' carries an accent in the tú, nosotros, and vosotros forms (oíste, oímos, oísteis).
Example Sentences
Oí un ruido extraño en la cocina.
I heard a strange noise in the kitchen.
yo
¿Oíste lo que dijo el profesor?
Did you hear what the teacher said?
tú
Ellos oyeron la noticia por la radio.
They heard the news on the radio.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: oieron
Correct: oyeron
Why: In Spanish, an unstressed 'i' between two vowels must change to a 'y'.
Mistake: oiste
Correct: oíste
Why: The 'i' in oír forms needs an accent to prevent it from blending into a single syllable with the 'o'.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'oír' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: oigo
The present tense of oír is highly irregular, featuring a 'g' in the 'yo' form (oigo) and 'y' in most other forms.
Imperfect
yo: oía
The imperfect of oír is regular for -ir verbs but requires an accent on the 'í' (oía, oías, oía).
Future
yo: oiré
The future tense of oír is completely regular: just add endings to the infinitive (oiré, oirás, oirá).
Conditional
yo: oiría
The conditional of oír is regular: add the endings -ía, -ías, -ía to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: oiga
The present subjunctive of oír is based on the 'yo' form (oigo), resulting in the stem 'oig-'.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: oyera
The imperfect subjunctive of oír uses the 'oy-' stem from the preterite (oyera, oyeras, oyera).
Affirmative Imperative
yo: oye
The imperative of oír uses 'oye' (tú) and 'oiga' (usted) to get someone's attention.
Negative Imperative
yo: no oigas
The negative imperative of oír uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive forms (no oigas, no oiga).