Table of Contents

• Why Are These Verbs Irregular?
• Group 1: The Totally Weird Twins (Ser & Ir)
  • Examples:
• Group 2: The "Almost Normal" Duo (Dar & Ver)
  • Examples:
• Group 3: The Stem-Changing Gang
  • The "U" Crew
  • The "I" Crew
  • The "J" Crew
• Summary Chart of Common Irregular Verbs
• You've Got This!

Spanish Irregular Preterite Verbs: The Ultimate A2 Guide

Just when you think you've mastered the Spanish preterite tense—you've memorized your -ar, -er, and -ir endings and are feeling like a grammar champion—you run into them. The irregulars.

Don't panic! While these verbs don't follow the rules, they have their own patterns. And the best part? They are some of the most common verbs in Spanish, so once you learn them, you'll be using them constantly.

This guide will break down the most common irregular preterite verbs into simple, manageable groups. We'll give you the patterns, plenty of examples, and quizzes to make sure you've got it. Ready to tame these tricky verbs? ¡Vamos!

Taking on the challenge of irregular verbs requires focus and organization.

Why Are These Verbs Irregular?

In the preterite tense, irregular verbs are rebels. They refuse to follow the standard conjugation patterns. This usually means two things:

1. They have a unique, irregular stem.
2. They use a special set of endings that don't have accent marks.

Let's look at those special endings first. Almost all the stem-changing irregulars you'll see below use this single set of endings.

Pronoun	Irregular Preterite Endings
yo	-e
tú	-iste
él/ella/Ud.	-o
nosotros/as	-imos
vosotros/as	-isteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.	-ieron*

Now, let's meet the different families of irregulars.

Group 1: The Totally Weird Twins (Ser & Ir)

This is probably the strangest but easiest group to memorize. The verbs serto be and irto go are completely irregular and, just to make things interesting, they have the exact same conjugations in the preterite. Yes, you read that right. Identical twins!

Pronoun	Ser (to be) / Ir (to go)
yo	fui
tú	fuiste
él/ella/Ud.	fue
nosotros/as	fuimos
vosotros/as	fuisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.	fueron

"Wait," you're thinking, "how do I know if fui means 'I was' or 'I went'?" Context is everything!

• Fui al supermercadosupermarket. (I went to the supermarket.) -> Here, the "a" (to) makes it clear you're talking about movement.
• La fiestaparty fue muy divertida. (The party was very fun.) -> Here, you're describing the party, a classic use of "ser."

Examples:

• Ayer, fuimos a la playa. (Yesterday, we went to the beach.)
• Mi abuelo fue doctor. (My grandfather was a doctor.)
• ¿Fuiste tú quien llamó? (Was it you who called?)

Group 2: The "Almost Normal" Duo (Dar & Ver)

The verbs darto give and verto see are a bit sneaky. They look like they should be regular -er/-ir verbs, but they pull a fast one: they use the standard endings without the accent marks. Think of them as regular verbs that forgot their hats!

Pronoun	Dar (to give)	Ver (to see)
yo	di	vi
tú	diste	viste
él/ella/Ud.	dio	vio
nosotros/as	dimos	vimos
vosotros/as	disteis	visteis
ellos/ellas/Uds.	dieron	vieron

Examples:

• Le di el librobook a María. (I gave the book to María.)
• ¿Viste la nueva película de Almodóvar? (Did you see the new Almodóvar film?)
• Mis padres me dieron un regalo. (My parents gave me a gift.)
• Nosotros vimos a tu hermano en el parque. (We saw your brother in the park.)

Even irregular verbs follow their own predictable patterns.

Group 3: The Stem-Changing Gang

This is the biggest group of irregulars, but they follow a very predictable pattern, which makes them easier to learn.

The Pattern: New Irregular Stem + The Special Endings (-e, -iste, -o, etc.)

Let's break them down by the vowel they change to in their new stem.

The "U" Crew

These verbs all get a "u" in their preterite stem.

Verb	Infinitive Stem	Preterite Stem	Yo Form (Stem + e)
tener (to have)	ten-	tuv-	tuve
estar (to be)	est-	estuv-	estuve
poder (to be able to)	pod-	pud-	pude
poner (to put)	pon-	pus-	puse
saber (to know)	sab-	sup-	supe
andar (to walk)	and-	anduv-	anduve

Let's see the full conjugation for tener (tuv-):

• yo tuve (I had)
• tú tuviste (you had)
• él/ella/Ud. tuvo (he/she/you had)
• nosotros tuvimos (we had)
• vosotros tuvisteis (you all had)
• ellos/ellas/Uds. tuvieron (they/you all had)

Examples:

• Ayer tuve que trabajar hasta tarde. (Yesterday I had to work late.)
• No pude ir a la fiesta. (I couldn't go to the party.)
• ¿Dónde pusiste las llaveskeys? (Where did you put the keys?)
• Supimos la noticia esta mañana. (We found out the news this morning.)

The "I" Crew

You guessed it! These verbs get an "i" in their preterite stem.

Verb	Infinitive Stem	Preterite Stem	Yo Form (Stem + e)
querer (to want)	quer-	quis-	quise
hacer (to do/make)	hac-	hic-	hice
venir (to come)	ven-	vin-	vine

Let's look at the full conjugation for hacer (hic-), which has one little spelling change to watch out for.

• yo hice
• tú hiciste
• él/ella/Ud. hizo (Look! It's a 'z'!)
• nosotros hicimos
• vosotros hicisteis
• ellos/ellas/Uds. hicieron

Examples:

• No quise comerto eat postre. (I didn't want to eat dessert.)
• ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana? (What did you do this weekend?)
• Mi amigo vino a visitarme. (My friend came to visit me.)
• Ella hizo un pastel delicioso. (She made a delicious cake.)

The "J" Crew

Our last group of stem-changers all get a "j" in their stem. This group also has one small change to the endings we learned.

Verb	Infinitive Stem	Preterite Stem	Yo Form (Stem + e)
decir (to say/tell)	dec-	dij-	dije
traer (to bring)	tra-	traj-	traje
conducir (to drive)	conduc-	conduj-	conduje

Any verb that ends in -ducir (like traducir - to translate) follows this pattern.

Now, about that ending change. For the ellos/ellas/Ustedes form, "J-stem" verbs drop the "i" from the -ieron ending.

Correct: dijeron, trajeron, condujeron Incorrect: dijieron, trajieron, condujieron

Why? Try saying "dij-ieron" out loud. It's a bit awkward! The Spanish language simplified it to -eron.

Let's see the full conjugation for decir (dij-):

• yo dije
• tú dijiste
• él/ella/Ud. dijo
• nosotros dijimos
• vosotros dijisteis
• ellos/ellas/Uds. dijeron

Examples:

• ¿Qué te dijo el profesor? (What did the teacher tell you?)
• Mis abuelos me trajeron un regalo de su viaje. (My grandparents brought me a gift from their trip.)
• Yo conduje a casa de mi amigo. (I drove to my friend's house.)

Summary Chart of Common Irregular Verbs

Here's a handy chart to bookmark for quick reference.

Group	Verb(s)	Stem	Key Feature
Twins	ser, ir	fu-	Completely irregular, but identical to each other.
Almost Normal	dar, ver	d-, v-	Use regular endings but with no accents.
U-Stem	tener, estar, poder, poner, saber	tuv-, estuv-, pud-, pus-, sup-	Stem changes to 'u', uses special endings.
I-Stem	querer, hacer, venir	quis-, hic-, vin-	Stem changes to 'i', uses special endings. (hizo)
J-Stem	decir, traer, conducir	dij-, traj-, conduj-	Stem changes to 'j', uses -eron for ellos form.

Practice these verbs in real-life conversations!

You've Got This!

Whew, that was a lot! But look at how much you've learned. You've gone from knowing just the regular preterite to understanding the patterns behind the trickiest verbs in the tense.

The key is not to get overwhelmed. Start with one group, like the "Twins" (ser/ir), and practice until you feel comfortable. Then move on to the next.

These verbs are used so frequently in conversation that with a little practice, they'll become second nature.

Keep listening, keep speaking, and don't be afraid to make mistakes!