Preterite Tense - Irregular Verbs  


More on Preterite Tense

Here are the forms that we use in the Spanish "preterite" forms to express one time events that took place at a particular moment in the past. Notice that instead of dividing the verb into three parts, we only have two parts, the stem and the ending. For now, we are going to focus on "A" category verbs.

PRETERITE

I spoke - yo hablé

you spoke - tú hablaste

he/she spoke - él/ella habló

we spoke - nosotros hablamos

they spoke - ellos/ellas hablaron

One point that it's important to notice. The preterite past form for "nosotros" looks and is pronounced exactly the same way that the present form would be. For example, "nosotros hablamos" could mean "we are speaking" or "we spoke". We would have to get the exact meaning from the context in which it is used in the sentence.

Let's break the forms down into stem and ending so that we can see a little more clearly how this form is constructed.

Irregular Verbs
There are times when we will have a spelling change in these "preterite" past forms. For example, if the verb ends in "-gar", we will have a spelling change in the "yo" form of the "preterite". This is because the letter "g" normally has a hard sound, like "go" in English. However, when "g" is followed by either "i" or "e", it has the "soft" sound, like the English letter "h". We want to avoid the sound change, so in Spanish, to keep the "g" hard like "go" when it is followed by "e", we add a silent letter "u" after the "g". By "silent" I mean that we don't actually pronounce it, like "oo" as in "school". It's just a signal to keep the "g" from changing to the "h" sound.
Examples
Let's practice some preterite past forms using verbs which end in "-gar".

I arrived (llegar) before (antes de) five o´clock.
Yo llegué antes de las cinco.
Did you arrive before five o´clock?
¿Llegaste antes de las cinco?
John arrived before five o´clock.
Juan llegó antes de las cinco.
We arrived before five o´clock.
Nosotros llegamos antes de las cinco.
The boys arrived before five o´clock.
Los muchachos llegaron antes de las cinco.
I paid (pagar) five dollars.
Yo pagué cinco dólares.
How much (cuánto) did you pay?
¿Cuánto pagaste?
Mary paid five dollars.
María pagó cinco dólares.
We paid five dollars.
Nosotros pagamos cinco dólares.
The girls paid five dollars.
Las muchachas pagaron cinco dólares.
I delivered (entregar) the package (el paquete) to him.
Yo le entregué el paquete.
Did you deliver the package to him?
¿Le entregaste el paquete?
John delivered the package to him.
Juan le entregó el paquete.
We delivered the package to him.
Nosotros le entregamos el paquete.
The boys delivered the package to him.
Los muchachos le entregaron el paquete.
Theory
Another case where we can have a spelling change is with verbs that end in "-car". Remember that the letter "c" normally has the sound of "k". However, if the "c" is followed by either "i" or "e", in Latin America it is pronounced like "s" (in most parts of Spain, it will be pronounced like "th"). We want to avoid this pronunciation change when we change forms within one verb. To avoid the "s" sound and preserve the "k" sound when followed by "e", we change the "c" to "qu".
Examples
I explained (explicar) the words.
Yo expliqué las palabras.
Did you explain the words?
¿Explicaste las palabras?
The teacher explained the words.
El profesor explicó las palabras.
We explained the words.
Nosotros explicamos las palabras.
The students (alumnos) explained the words.
Los alumnos explicaron las palabras.
I played (tocar) the guitar (guitarra).
Yo toqué la guitarra.
Did you play the guitar?
¿Tocaste la guitarra?
John played the guitar.
Juan tocó la guitarra.
We played the guitar.
Nosotros tocamos la guitarra.
The boys played the guitar.
Los muchachos tocaron la guitarra.
I took (sacar) a photo (foto).
Yo saqué una foto.
Notice that "foto" is an exception. It ends in "o", but we say "una foto". This is because the original word was "fotografía", ending in "a".
Did you take a photo?
¿Sacaste una foto?
Mary took a photo.
María sacó una foto.
We took a photo.
Nosotros sacamos una foto.
The girls took a photo.
Las muchachas sacaron una foto.
Now let's go back to some more plain old regular verbs, just to get some more practice. We can toss in some more new vocabulary to learn also.
I painted (pintar) the walls (las paredes).
Yo pinté las paredes.
Did you paint the walls?
¿Pintaste las paredes?
John painted the walls.
Juan pintó las paredes.
We painted the walls.
Nosotros pintamos las paredes.
The boys painted the walls.
Los muchachos pintaron las paredes.
I cleaned (limpiar) the kitchen (la cocina).
Yo limpié la cocina.
Did you clean the kitchen?
¿Limpiaste la cocina?
Mary cleaned the kitchen.
María limpió la cocina.
We cleaned the kitchen.
Nosotros limpiamos la cocina.
The girls cleaned the kitchen.
Las muchachas limpiaron la cocina.
I closed (cerrar) the window (la ventana).
Yo cerré la ventana.
Did you close the window?
¿Cerraste la ventana?
John closed the window.
Juan cerró la ventana.
We closed the window.
Nosotros cerramos la ventana.
The boys closed the window.
Los muchachos cerraron la ventana.
I cashed (cambiar) a check (un cheque) at the bank (en el banco).
Yo cambié un cheque en el banco.
Did you cash a check at the bank?
¿Cambiaste un cheque en el banco?
Mary cashed a check at the bank.
María cambió un cheque en el banco.
We cashed a check at the bank.
Nosotros cambiamos un cheque en el banco.
The girls cashed a check at the bank.
Las muchachas cambiaron un cheque en el banco.
I studied the lesson (la lección).
Yo estudié la lección.
Did you study the lesson?
¿Estudiaste la lección?
John studied the lesson.
Juan estudió la lección.
We studied the lesson.
Nosotros estudiamos la lección.
The boys studied the lesson.
Los muchachos estudiaron la lección.
I listened (escuchar) to the music (la música).
Yo escuché la música.
Did you listen to the music?
¿Escuchaste la música?
Mary listened to the music.
María escuchó la música.
We listened to the music.
Nosotros escuchamos la música.
The girls listened to the music.
Las muchachas escucharon la música.
I answered (contestar) the question (la pregunta).
Yo contesté la pregunta.
Did you answer the question?
¿Contestaste la pregunta?
John answered the question.
Juan contestó la pregunta.
We answered the question.
Nosotros contestamos la pregunta.
The boys answered the question.
Los muchachos contestaron la pregunta.
I visited (visitar) my grandmother (a mi abuela).
Yo visité a mi abuela.
Notice that when we have a human direct object, we have to use the preposition "a", even though we wouldn't translate it as the English word "to". It's called the "personal" use of "a", since it refers to persons used as direct objects.
Did you visit your grandmother?
¿Visitaste a tu abuela?
Mary visited her grandmother.
María visitó a su abuela.
We visited our grandmother.
Nosotros visitamos a nuestra abuela.
Remember that the possessive word, "nuestro" must change "o" to "a" when used with a noun in the "A" category. Females are treated as "A" words.
The girls visited their grandmother.
Las muchachas visitaron a su abuela.
Notice that we do not add an "s" to "su". This is because "su" means "his", "her" and "their". We would only add the "s" if "grandmothers" were plural.
I forgot (olvidar) the telephone number (el número de teléfono).
Yo olvidé el número de teléfono.
Did you forget the telephone number?
¿Olvidaste el número de teléfono?
John forgot the telephone number.
Juan olvidó el número de teléfono.
We forgot the telephone number.
Nosotros olvidamos el número de teléfono.
The boys forgot the telephone number.
Los muchachos olvidaron el número de teléfono.



Popular Phrase: fiesta con   | Online English-Spanish Medical Dictionary