Preterite Tense of o-u Stem Changing Verbs

Some verbs in Spanish are a little trickier when you conjugate them in the preterite because some forms take on a spelling

change in their stem. Look at the following forms of the verb “dormir”:

yo dormí nosotros dormimos

tú dormiste

Ud./él/ella durmió Uds./ellos/ellas durmieron

Notice how the o changed to u in the bottom two forms (Ud./él/ella and

Uds./ellos/ellas).

Let’s do some practice. What is the preterite “tú” form of the verb

“dormir”?

dormiste!That’s right… it’s

durmieron!That’s right… it’s

Let’s do a few more. What is the preterite “ellos” form of the verb

“dormir”?

What is the preterite “nosotros” form of the verb “dormir”?

dormimos!That’s right… it’s

dormí!That’s right… it’s

What is the preterite “yo” form of the verb “dormir”?

What is the preterite “ellos” form of the verb “dormir”?

durmieron!That’s right… it’s

dormimos!That’s right… it’s

What is the preterite “nosotros” form of the verb “dormir”?

VOILA!

See how easy that was? Now try some on your

own – click the button to do a practice quiz.

PracticeQuiz

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