Preterite: irregular verbs
A2Grammar path · Lesson 26 of 86 · Stage A2 · The past
You need the irregular preterite to talk about everyday past events: where you went, what you did, what you had. Many of the most common verbs change their stem in this tense: tener becomes tuv-, hacer becomes hic-, decir becomes dij-. You then add a special set of endings, -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -ieron, with no written accent: tuve, hizo, dijeron. Ser and ir share the same forms: fui, fue, fueron. Don't confuse this with the regular preterite, where the stem stays the same and the yo and él endings carry an accent, as in hablé, comió.
Practise this lesson · 10 sentences
Form
sujeto + raíz irregular (tuv-, hic-, dij-, pud-...) + -e / -iste / -o / -imos / -ieronsujeto + no + verbo en pretérito irregular¿(palabra interrogativa) + verbo en pretérito irregular + (sujeto)?sujeto + fui / fuiste / fue / fuimos / fueronWhen to use it
Finished actions at a specific time
Use it when an action is over and usually tied to a clear time marker like ayer, anoche or el año pasado.
Telling a sequence of events
When telling a story, each completed step goes in the preterite, whether the verb is regular or irregular.
Verbs that shift meaning in the preterite
Some verbs take an event meaning: supe means 'found out', no quiso means 'refused', pude means 'managed to'.
Common irregular preterites
Signal words
Don't confuse it with
Frequently asked questions
Which verbs have the most common irregular preterite forms?
The most common are ser/ir (fui), tener (tuve), estar (estuve), hacer (hice), poder (pude), poner (puse), decir (dije), venir (vine), querer (quise), saber (supe) and dar (di).
Why do tuve and hizo have no accent?
Stem-changing verbs use their own endings with the stress on the stem, so no accent is needed: tuve, hizo. Only regular verbs carry the accent: hablé, comió.
How do I tell fui from ser and from ir apart?
Use context: with a + a place it is ir, as in Fui a Lima. With an adjective or noun it is ser, as in Fue un día largo.
Why is it dijeron and not dijieron?
When the stem ends in j (dij-, traj-, conduj-), the ellos form drops the i: dijeron, trajeron.
How do you spell the él form of hacer?
It is hizo, with c changing to z to keep the sound. The other forms keep hic-: hice, hiciste, hicieron.