Learning Irregular Past Tense Spanish Verbs
It isn't too long after starting to learn Spanish verb conjugation that a student encounters the Spanish past tenses
. These Spanish past tenses are called the preterite and the imperfect and both are widely used and it is therefore extremely important to fully understand when to use each tense and how each is formed.
There are irregular Spanish verbs in both past tenses (surprise,surprise!), not too many in the imperfect, but the preterite does contain some of the most irregular conjugations of all the tenses, so be warned.
We will now take a look at each of these past tenses, explaining when they are used, regular formation for each of the verb groups and irregular verb variations.
The Imperfect Past Tense in Spanish
The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly such as,
I used to walk home every day - Caminaba cada da
It is also used to refer to actions in the past that happened over an extended period.
I used to eat paella frequently - Coma frecuentemente paella
And for "setting the stage" for a past event.
We were coming home when we saw Juan - Venamos para casa cuando vimos a Juan
Non physical actions such as feelings and thoughts will also usually use the imperfect tense,
Juan was feeling sick - Juan estaba enfermo
In Spanish there are two sets of regular verb endings for the imperfect tense, one is used for verbs ending in -ar and the other for verbs ending in -er and -ir, these endings rarely change even when used with irregular verbs and are as follows;
Enviar (to send)
yo envi -aba (I was sending)
t envi -abas (you were sending)
el/ella envi -aba (he/she was sending)
nosotros envi -bamos (we were sending)
vosotros envi -abais (you were sending)
ellos/ellas envi -aban (they were sending)
Tener (to have)
yo ten -a (I was having)
t ten -as (you were having)
el/ella ten -a (he/she was having)
nosotros ten -amos (we were having)
vosotros ten -ais (you were having)
ellos/ellas ten -an (they were having)
Decir (to say)
yo dec -a (I was saying)
t dec -as (you were saying)
el/ella dec -a (he/she was saying)
nosotros dec -amos (we were saying)
vosotros dec -ais (you were saying)
ellos/ellas dec -an (they were saying)
There are two exceptions to the regular pattern of the imperfect tense and they are the important verbs 'ser' (to be) and 'ir' (to go) which will both need to be thoroughly studied and they are conjugated as shown below;
Ser (to be)
yo er -a (I was)
t er -as (you were)
el/ella er -a (he/she was )
nosotros r -amos (we were)
vosotros er -ais (you were)
ellos/ellas er -an (they were)
Ir (to go)
yo ib -a (I was going)
t ib -as (you were going)
el/ella ib -a (he/she was going)
nosotros b -amos (we were going)
vosotros ib -ais (you were going)
ellos/ellas ib -an (they were going)
The Preterite Past Tense in Spanish
The preterite tense is used frequently and is used to describe past actions that are seen to be completed. As with the Imperfect tense the stem of the verb is used with the tense endings and, as with the imperfect, there are two sets of endings, one for -ar verbs and the other for -ir and -er verbs.
Enviar (to send)
yo envi - (I sent)
t envi -aste (you sent)
el/ella envi - (he/she sent)
nosotros envi -amos (we sent)
vosotros envi -asteis (you sent)
ellos/ellas envi -aron (they sent)
Coger (to take)
yo cog - (I took)
t cog -iste (you took)
el/ella cog -i (he/she took)
nosotros cog -imos (we took)
vosotros cog -isteis (you took)
ellos/ellas cog -ieron (they took)
Salir (to leave)
yo sal - (I left)
t sal -iste (you left)
el/ella sal -i (he/she left)
nosotros sal -imos (we left)
vosotros sal -isteis (you left)
ellos/ellas sal -ieron (they left)
Unlike the imperfect tense there are a number of verbs that have irregularities in the formation of the preterite tense and to list them all along with their many differences would be too big a job for this article.
The most commonly used irregular past tense verbs in the preterite tense are;
estar (to be),
dar (to give),
haber (to have),
tener (to have),
poner (to put),
hacer (to do,make),
poder (to be able to, can),
querer (to want),
ser (to be),
decir (to say)
ir (to go)
All of which are very different and will each need learning individually unfortunately!
by: Daniel Major
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