Spanish 5.1. Irregular Verbs in the Preterite

Some Spanish verbs are irregular in the preterite. The following verbs are common examples of irregular verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish:

In addition to the above irregular verbs in the preterite, there are a few more verbs and patterns in Spanish that are useful to memorize.

Use your Anki cards to practice more examples until you master this lesson. You can also use the summary in this cheat sheets of Spanish Irregular Verbs as a quick reference.

Verbs ending in “-ducir” as well as “decir” and “traer”

Verbs ending in “-ducir” replace the “c” with “j” in their stem to form the preterite stem ending in “duj-.” The verbs “decir” and “traer” are treated similarly, and their stems are “dij-” and “traj-,” respectively. Notice also that the third-person plural form of these verbs ends in “-eron” instead of “-ieron.”

Examples of verbs in this category include: “traducir” (to translate), “producir” (to produce), “reducir” (to reduce), “conducir” (to drive), “introducir” (to introduce), “deducir” (to deduce), and “seducir” (to seduce).

Verbs “estar,” “tener,” and “andar”

The verbs “estar,” “tener,” and “andar” (to walk or to go) take the stems “estuv-,” “tuv-,” and “anduv-,” respectively.

Verbs that change the first vowel from “a” or “o” to “u”

The two verbs “haber” and “poder” take the stems “hub-” and “pud-,” respectively, whereas the verbs “poner,” “saber,” and “caber” (to fit) undergo an extra-letter change and take the stems “pus-,” “sup-,” and “cup-,” respectively.

Verbs that change stem in the third-person forms

There are three groups in this category:

1. Verbs that change “e” to “i” in the third-person singular and plural forms

Examples of these verbs: “pedir” (to ask or request), “mentir” (to lie), “sentir” (to feel), “seguir” (to follow), “servir” (to serve), “hervir” (to boil), “preferir” (to prefer), “convertir” (to convert), “despedir” (to dismiss), “impedir” (to prevent), “divertirse” (to have fun), “sugerir” (to suggest), “vestirse” (to dress), “repetir” (to repeat), “reír” (to laugh), and “sonreír” (to smile). Notice that these verbs are all “-ir” verbs.

2. Verbs that change “o” to “u” in the third-person singular and plural forms

Examples of these verbs: “dormir” (to sleep) and “morir” (to die), which are also “-ir” verbs.

3. Verbs that change “e” or “i” to “y” in the third-person singular and plural forms

Examples of these verbs: “caer” (to fall), “leer” (to read), “roer” (to nibble), “oír” (to hear), “influir” (to influence), and “concluir” (to conclude). Notice that if the final vowel of the stem is silent, this rule does not apply, e.g., “seguir” (to follow), “perseguir” (to chase or pursue), “conseguir” (to get).

The changes in the table above prevent the presence of three consecutive vowels, e.g., “cayó” (the “y” replaces “e,” preventing the presence of the three consecutive vowels “-aeo-”).

Verbs “venir,” “querer,” and “ver”

Finally, the verbs “venir” and “querer” take the stems “vin-” and “quis-,” respectively, whereas the verb “ver” does not follow a specific rule.

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