The preterite verbs you can’t avoid
The regular preterite is easy. The problem is that the most common Spanish verbs are irregular in it, and you need them to tell any story about the past: fui, tuve, hice, dije, pude, puse, vine, quise, supe, estuve, traje. The good news is that they share patterns.
The “strong” preterites share one set of endings
Twelve common verbs change their stem and then take the same endings, with no accents: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
| Verb | New stem | yo | él / ella |
|---|---|---|---|
| tener | tuv- | tuve | tuvo |
| estar | estuv- | estuve | estuvo |
| andar | anduv- | anduve | anduvo |
| poder | pud- | pude | pudo |
| poner | pus- | puse | puso |
| saber | sup- | supe | supo |
| haber | hub- | — | hubo |
| hacer | hic- | hice | hizo |
| querer | quis- | quise | quiso |
| venir | vin- | vine | vino |
| decir | dij- | dije | dijo |
| traer | traj- | traje | trajo |
Two details: hacer becomes hizo with a z to keep the soft sound, and stems ending in j drop the i in the ellos form: dijeron, trajeron, never dijieron.
Ser and ir are identical
Fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron works for both. Context tells you which: Fui médico (I was a doctor) and Fui al médico (I went to the doctor).
Dar and ver: short and accent-free
Di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron and vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron. Since vi, vio, di and dio are one syllable, they take no accent.
Three smaller patterns
Third-person stem changes: -ir verbs with a stem change in the present also change in the preterite, but only in the third person: durmió, durmieron; pidió, pidieron; sintió, prefirió, murió.
The y verbs: when the stem ends in a vowel, i becomes y in the third person: leyó, leyeron, creyó, oyó, cayó, construyó.
Spelling changes in the yo form only: -car → busqué, toqué, saqué; -gar → llegué, jugué, pagué; -zar → empecé, almorcé, crucé. The sound stays the same; only the spelling adapts.
Quick answers
What are the most common irregular preterite verbs in Spanish?
Ser and ir (fui), tener (tuve), estar (estuve), hacer (hice), poder (pude), poner (puse), decir (dije), traer (traje), querer (quise), venir (vine), saber (supe), dar (di) and ver (vi). Most of them share one set of endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron, with no accents.
Is it hizo or hico?
Hizo. Hacer becomes hic- in the preterite (hice, hiciste), and the c changes to z before o to keep the same soft sound: hizo.
Is it dijeron or dijieron?
Dijeron. When the preterite stem ends in j (dij-, traj-, conduj-), the ellos ending drops the i: dijeron, trajeron, condujeron.
Why are ser and ir the same in the preterite?
They simply share the forms fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Context tells them apart: fui profesor (I was a teacher) versus fui al mercado (I went to the market).
Does vio have an accent?
No. Vi, vio, di and dio are one-syllable words, so they take no accent in modern Spanish spelling: ella vio la película; le di las gracias.
Why is it busqué and not buscé?
Verbs ending in -car, -gar and -zar change spelling in the yo form of the preterite to keep the sound of the infinitive: busqué, llegué, empecé. Only the yo form changes.