2.11.5 Irregular preterite forms
True irregulars
In this text we are calling a true irregular verb one that has a form that isn’t predictable from its infinitive form or from another conjugation in another tense. These are usually really common verbs because it is hard to remember irregular verbs. So if native speakers don’t use the verb much, it is unlikely that it will have a true irregular form.
Ser, estar, ir, ver, hacer, haber, querer, venir, poner, poder, saber, tener, andar
Even among these irregular verbs, some of them do form little groups. These little groups are hard to predict and the explanation for how they happened is quite technical but it can be useful to memorize which verbs have the same irregularity. For example, the irregular forms of estar, tener, and andar are all the same.
| Estuve
Estuviste Estuvo Estuvieron Estuvisteis Estuvieron |
Tuve
Tuviste Tuvo Tuvimos tuvisteis Tuvieron |
Anduve
Anduviste Anduvo Anduvimos Anduvisteis anduvieron |
You can also see a second group that forms with poder, poner, and saber:
Poner: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
Poder: pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
Saber: supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
Dar: di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron
Ver: vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron
Ser: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Ir: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Querer: quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron
