Preterite Tense: Common Irregulars

In the preterite tense, which describes completed past actions, many of the most common verbs don't follow the regular -ar, -er, and -ir patterns. These are the irregulars. Luckily, they often follow their own group patterns.

The Main Irregular Groups

These verbs get a new, irregular stem. Then, you add a special set of endings to that stem. The good news? These endings never have accent marks!

The endings are: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.

Here are the most common irregular stems to memorize:

• u Stems

  • tener (to have) → tuv- (e.g., tuve, tuviste, tuvo)
  • estar (to be) → estuv- (e.g., estuve, estuviste, estuvo)
  • poder (to be able to) → pud- (e.g., pude, pudiste, pudo)
  • poner (to put) → pus- (e.g., puse, pusiste, puso)

• i Stems

  • querer (to want) → quis- (e.g., quise, quisiste, quiso)
  • venir (to come) → vin- (e.g., vine, viniste, vino)

• j Stems (Note: the ellos/ellas form ends in -eron)

  • decir (to say/tell) → dij- (e.g., dije, dijiste, dijo, dijeron)
  • traer (to bring) → traj- (e.g., traje, trajiste, trajo, trajeron)

• The Truly Unique: ser, ir, dar, hacer

  • ser (to be) and ir (to go) are identical: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
  • hacer (to do/make) has an i stem, but changes for él/ella: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

Focus on recognizing these new stems. Once you know the stem, the endings are always the same and have no accents!