El pretérito

What is a stem change?

A change to the vowel inside the verb stem while keeping the same endings

Which verbs can have a stem change in the preterite?

IR verbs only

Which persons get a stem change in the preterite?

él / ella / ellos / ellas

What stem changes exist in the preterite?

e → i and o → u

Do -AR or -ER verbs stem-change in the preterite?

No

Preterite stem change — pedir

to ask for | e → i in él / ellos (pidió, pidieron)

Preterite stem change — sentir

to feel | e → i in él / ellos (sintió, sintieron)

Preterite stem change — repetir

to repeat | e → i in él / ellos (repitió, repitieron)

Preterite stem change — seguir

to follow | e → i in él / ellos (siguió, siguieron)

Preterite stem change — servir

to serve | e → i in él / ellos (sirvió, sirvieron)

Preterite stem change — vestirse

to get dressed | e → i in él / ellos (se vistió, se vistieron)

Preterite stem change — mentir

to lie | e → i in él / ellos (mintió, mintieron)

Preterite stem change — preferir

to prefer | e → i in él / ellos (prefirió, prefirieron)

Preterite stem change — divertirse

to have fun | e → i in él / ellos (se divirtió, se divirtieron)

Preterite stem change — elegir

to choose | e → i in él / ellos (eligió, eligieron)

Preterite stem change — dormir

to sleep | o → u in él / ellos (durmió, durmieron)

Preterite stem change — morir

to die | o → u in él / ellos (murió, murieron)

Which conjugation (yo, tú, etc.) changes for -car / -gar / -zar verbs?

YO only

What is the preterite YO form for car verbs?

qué

What is the preterite YO form for gar verbs?

gué

What is the preterite YO form for zar verbs?

cé

Which conjugation (yo, tú, etc.) changes to i → y in the preterite?

él / ella and ellos / ellas

Which verbs use i → y in the preterite?

-er / -ir verbs with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) before the ending

Preterite spelling change — leer

to read | i → y in él / ellos (leyó, leyeron)

Preterite spelling change — caer

to fall | i → y in él / ellos (cayó, cayeron)

Preterite spelling change — creer

to believe | i → y in él / ellos (creyó, creyeron)

Preterite spelling change — oír

to hear | i → y in él / ellos (oyó, oyeron)

Preterite spelling change — construir

to construct / to build | i → y in él / ellos (construyó, construyeron)

Preterite spelling change — incluir

to include | i → y in él / ellos (incluyó, incluyeron)

Preterite spelling change — contribuir

to contribute | i → y in él / ellos (contribuyó, contribuyeron)

Where do accents go on i → y verbs in the preterite?

There is an accent on the í EXCEPT for él / ellos, where i → y (leyó, leyeron)

Preterite irregular root — querer

to want | root quis-

Preterite irregular root — poder

to be able to/can | root pud-

Preterite irregular root — poner

to put | root pus-

Preterite irregular root — estar

to be | root estuv-

Preterite irregular root — tener

to have | root tuv-

Preterite irregular root — decir

to say/ to tell | root dij- (i drops in ellos)

Preterite irregular root — traer

to bring | root traj- (i drops in ellos)

Preterite irregular root — venir

to come | root vin-

Preterite irregular root — saber

to know | root sup-

Preterite irregular root — andar

to walk | root anduv-

Preterite irregular root — conducir

to drive | root conduj- (i drops in ellos)

Preterite completely irregular — ser / ir

to be / to go | fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron

Preterite completely irregular — dar

to give | di, diste, dio, dimos, dieron

Preterite completely irregular — ver

to see | vi, viste, vio, vimos, vieron

Preterite irregular — haber

there was / there were | hubo only

Pretérito endings for irregular verbs

e, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron

Do irregular preterite endings have accents?

No

Pretérito endings for -AR verbs

é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron

Pretérito endings for -ER verbs

í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron

Pretérito endings for -IR verbs

í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron