Preterite - Irregular Spanish Verbs

The preterite is the tense with the most irregularities. One group of irregular verbs has accented endings in the first and third-person singular forms.

The table below shows how three irregular verbs are formed in the preterite tense. The verbs oír (to hear), leer (to read), and caer (to fall) each have an accent on the ending in the first and third-person singular forms.

oír (example sentences) (full conjugation)

			

				
 
				
oír
                                

			
			

				
yo
				
oí
                                
(I heard)
			
			

				
tú
				
oíste
                                
(you heard)
			
			

				
Ud./él/ella
				
oyó
                                
(you/he/she heard)
			
			

				
nosotros
				
oímos
                                
(we heard)
			
			

				
vosotros
				
oísteis
                                
(you guys heard)
			
			

				
Uds./ellos/ ellas
				
oyeron
                                
(you all/they heard)
			

leer (example sentences) (full conjugation)

			

				
 
				
leer
                                

			
			

				
yo
				
leí
                                
(I read)
			
			

				
tú
				
leíste
                                
(you read)
			
			

				
Ud./él/ella
				
leyó
                                
(you/he/she read)
			
			

				
nosotros
				
leímos
                                
(we read)
			
			

				
vosotros
				
leísteis
                                
(you guys read)
			
			

				
Uds./ellos/ ellas
				
leyeron
                                
(you all/they read)
			

caer (example sentences) (full conjugation)

			

				
 
				
caer
                                

			
			

				
yo
				
caí
                                
(I fell)
			
			

				
tú
				
caíste
                                
(you fell)
			
			

				
Ud./él/ella
				
cayó
                                
(you/he/she fell)
			
			

				
nosotros
				
caímos
                                
(we fell)
			
			

				
vosotros
				
caísteis
                                
(you guys fell)
			
			

				
Uds./ellos/ ellas
				
cayeron
                                
(you all/they fell)
			

Note:
m = male f = female mix = mixed group
yo = I, tú = you (informal)
usted (Ud.) = you (formal)
él = he, ella = she
nosotros = we (m/mix), nosotras = we (f)
vosotros = you guys (informal, m/mix)
vosotras = you guys (informal, f)
ellos = they (m/mix), ellas = they (f)
ustedes (Uds.) = you all (formal)