This lesson is for preterite forms that cannot be derived from the regular ending pattern or the stem/spelling-change rule.
Endings
Most irregular preterites take a stem of their own plus one set of endings, and those endings carry no accent.
| Pronoun | Ending |
|---|---|
| yo | -e |
| tú | -iste |
| él/ella/ud. | -o |
| nosotros | -imos |
| vosotros | -isteis |
| ellos/uds. | -ieron |
tener → tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron. estar, poder, poner, saber, querer, venir and hacer work the same way.
An irregular example
ser and ir share one paradigm, and it sits outside even that set.
ser in Pretérito
j-stems
Where the stem ends in j, -ieron loses its i: decir → dijeron, traer → trajeron, conducir → condujeron.
Other patterns
hacer changes its spelling in él: hizo. dar and ver take the -ir endings with no accent: di, diste, dio; vi, viste, vio.