Unit 8: Preterit (Part 2), “to be” verbs, present participle and progressive tenses
8.1 Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense: Part 1
Spanish has many irregular verb forms in the preterit. Memorizing these so that you can quickly recognize them will speed up the translation process.
Two verbs have identical irregular preterite forms.
| ir | ser | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | fui |
| tú | fuiste | fuiste |
| él, ella, Ud. | fue | fue |
| nosotros | fuimos | fuimos |
| vosotros | fuisteis | fuisteis |
| ellos, ellas, Uds. | fueron | fueron |
Context always clarifies the meaning. Fui con Uds. must mean “I went with you,” and not “I was with you,” because estar would be used in the latter case to express location. Los niños fueron buenos necessarily means “The children were good,” because the meaning with the verb ir does not make sense.
Some common irregular preterits may be grouped together by the similarities in their stem. Note that the endings (-e, -iste, -o, -imos,- isteis, -ieron) of all irregular preterits below and in following sections are identical to each other. They do not have accent marks.
| estar | tener | andar (to walk) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | estuve | tuve | anduve |
| tú | estuviste | tuviste | anduviste |
| él, ella, Ud. | estuvo | tuvo | anduvo |
| nosotros | estuvimos | tuvimos | anduvimos |
| vosotros | estuvisteis | tuvisteis | anduvisteis |
| ellos, ellas, Uds. | estuvieron | tuvieron | anduvieron |
Three irregular verbs that switch the vowel of their root to -i follow:
| venir | hacer | querer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | vine | hice | quise |
| tú | viniste | hiciste | quisiste |
| él, ella, Ud. | vino | hizo* | quiso |
| nosotros | vinimos | hicimos | quisimos |
| vosotros | vinisteis | hicisteis | quisisteis |
| ellos, ellas, Uds. | vinieron | hicieron | quisieron |
*The third person singular of hacer must change the c to z to preserve the “soft” sound of the s.
Valer
Besides its meaning referring to worth of value (Vale mucho. [It’s worth a lot.]), valer is also used in the third person singular in various expressions, especially in Spain:
| ¿Vale? | Is that all right? Okay? |
| Eso no vale. | That’s no good. |
| Más vale así. | It’s better that (this) way. |
| Más vale tarde que nunca. | Better late than never. |
Valer la pena is the most commonly used expression with the verb valer.
| Esta película vale la pena. | This film is worthwhile. |
| Valió la pena asistir. | It was worthwhile to attend. |
