The Preterite Irregulars

Present tense –ir stem-changers (boot verbs) also have a stem-change in the preterite tense.

The change is a little different.

In the preterite they are called

the “Sandal Verbs”

dormir dormimosdormísduermen

duermoduermesduerme

dormir dormimosdormisteisdurmieron

dormídormistedurmió

Every stem-changing (shoe) verb in the present tense

ue

u

Type 1

“Sandal” verbs

The preterit stem changes occur only in the third persons.

o ue

o u

that is also an -ir verb

is a “sandal” verb in the preterit.

Type 1: o ue, o u

Juan durmió seis horas anoche, y sus hermanos durmieron ocho.

dormir

Juan slept six hours last night, and his brothers slept eight.

Alicia murió dos años después de que murieron sus padres.

morir

Alicia died two years after her parents died.

mentir mentimosmentísmienten

mientomientesmiente

mentir mentimosmentisteismintieron

mentímentistemintió

ie

i

Type 2

“Sandal” verbs

The preterit stem changes occur only in the third persons.

e ie

e i

Every stem-changing (shoe) verb in the present tense that is also an -ir

verbis a “sandal” verb in the preterit.

Type 2: e ie, e i

Eduardo mintió acerca del robo, pero sus cómplices no mintieron.

mentir

Eduardo lied about the theft, but his accomplices didn’t lie.

Marlena sintió alegría cuando ganó el premio, y sus padres sintieron mucho orgullo.

sentir

Marlena felt joy when she won the award, and her parents felt great pride.

dormir(ue,u) – to sleep

• dormí• dormiste• durmió

• dormimos • dormisteis• durmieron

Ella no durmió bien anoche.

She did not sleep well last night.

The “o” changes to “u” in the 3rd persons only.

When you look up stem-changing verbs in the

dictionary, for example:

dormir (ue,u)

present tense “boot” stem-change / preterite tense “sandal” stem-change

dormir (ue,u)The “ue” refers to the stem-change in the

present tense.

• duermo• duermes• duerme

• dormimos• dormís• duermen

Remember the forms that have the stem-change in the present tense form the boot shape. These are the “boot verbs”.

¿Duermes mucho?Do you sleep a lot?

dormir (ue,u)

The “u” refers to the stem-change in the preterite tense.

• dormí• dormiste• durmió

• dormimos • dormisteis• durmieron

The forms that have the stem-change in the preterite tenseform more of a “sandal” shape. These are the “sandal verbs”.

REMEMBER!!Present Tense – Boot Verbs / Preterite Tense – Sandal Verbs

dormir (ue, u)

pedir (i, i)

preferir (ie, i)

mentir (ie, i)

repetir (i, i)

sentir (ie, i)

preferir (ie, i)We have already learned the Boot Verbs when we learned the

present tense.This lección, we are learning the Preterite Sandal Verbs.

pedir(i,i) – to request, ask for

• pedí• pediste• pidió

• pedimos • pedisteis• pidieron

Ud. pidió la ensalada.

You ordered the salad.

The “e” changes to “i” in the 3rd persons only.

preferir (ie, i) – to prefer

• preferí• preferiste• prefirió

• preferimos • preferisteis• prefirieron

Uds. prefirieron español.

You prefered Spanish.

The “e” changes to “i” in the 3rd persons only.

Just follow the same pattern for any other –ir stem-changers you come upon. Just look for the second vowel after the infinitive: sentir(ie,i)

By the way, there are only –ir sandal verbs. -ar or –er verbs do not stem

change in the preterite.

–er and –ir verbs

-yó / -yeron verbs

leíste

leímos

leísteis

leieron

leí

leióyó yeron

Verbs that change the “i” to “y” in the third-persons singular and plural

Example: leer

Notice that every form except third-person plural bears a written accent.

The “i” to “y” change applies only to -er and -ir verbs whose stem ends in a

vowelleer

creerleyó leyeron

creyó creyeron

oíroyó oyeron

leer – to read

• leí• leíste• leyó

• leímos• leísteis• leyeron

Leí seis libros para la clase de ingles.

I read six books for English class.

* “y” replaces the “i” in the3rd persons.

* leyeron is the only formwithout an accent.

oír – to hear

• oí• oíste• oyó

• oímos• oísteis• oyeron

¿No oíste la fecha del examen?

Didn’t you hear the date of the test?

* “y” replaces the “i” in the3rd persons.

* oyeron is the only formwithout an accent.

The irregular preterite verbs

estar – to be

• estuve• estuviste• estuvo

• estuvimos• estuvisteis• estuvieron

Estuve en casa ayer.

I was at home yesterday.

* This verb contains “uv”

* There are no accents.

tener – to have

• tuve• tuviste• tuvo

• tuvimos• tuvisteis• tuvieron

Tuve que trabajar ayer.

I had to work yesterday.

* This verb contains “uv” similiar to the preterite conjugation of estar: estuve, estuviste, etc.

* There are no accents.

decir – to say, tell

• dije• dijiste• dijo

• dijimos• dijisteis• dijeron

Mis padres dijeron que no.

My parents said no.

* The “c” is replaced by a “j”.

* The 3rd person formis –eron.

* There are no accents.

hacer – to do, make

• hice• hiciste• hizo

• hicimos• hicisteis• hicieron

Juan no hizo su tarea.

Juan didn’t do his homework.

* The “c” is replaced by a “z” in the 3rd person singular form to maintain the softpronunciation.

* There are no accents.

dar and ver – the irregular “fraternal twins”

dar• di• diste• dio• dimos• disteis• dieron

ver• vi• viste• vio• vimos• visteis• viereon

No accents

ir and ser – the irregular “identical twins”

1. Yo fui (I went, was)

__________________________

2. Tú fuiste (you went,were) __________________________

3. Él fue (he went, was) Ella fue (she went, was) Ud. fue (you went, polite were) fue (it is) “it” was implied

1. Nosotros fuimos (we went,were) Nosotras fuimos (we went, were fem.)___________________________

2. Vosotros fuisteis (you went, were) Vosotras fuisteis (you went, were fem.)___________________________

3. Ellos fueron (they went, were) Ellas fueron (they went, were fem.) Uds. fueron (you went, were plural)