Spelling changes in regular verbs *occur only in the 1st person*

g gu c qu zc
llegar yo llegu buscar yo busqu comenzar yo comenc
jugar yo jugu practicar yo practiqu empezar yo empec
pagar yo pagu sacar yo saqu organizar yo organic
tocar yo toqu rezar yo rec
trazar yo trac
tropezarse (yo) me tropec

Irregular verbs in the preterite *Remember, there are no accents on irregular conjugations!
Verbs that have the letters uv in the irregular preterite stem:
andar to walk anduv- anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron
estar to be estuv- estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
tener to have tuv- tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron
Verbs that have a u in the irregular preterite stem:
caber to fit cup- cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron
haber to have (auxiliary) hub- hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron
poder to be able to pud- pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron
poner to put, place pus- puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron
saber to know, find out sup- supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron
Verbs that have an i in the irregular preterite stem:
hacer to make, do hic- hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
querer to want quis- quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron
venir to come vin- vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron

Ser and ir
The preterite conjugations for ser and ir are identical. But dont worry youll be able to tell by the context which verb is required. Ser is used far less
often than ir in the preterite.
Ser to be Ir to go
Yo fui Nosotros fuimos Yo fui Nosotros fuimos
Tu fuiste Vosotros fuisteis Tu fuiste Vosotros fuisteis
l, ella, usted fue Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes fueron l, ella, usted fue Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes fueron

Decir and traer Dar and ver

Decir to say, tell Traer to bring Dar to give Ver to see
dije dijimos traje trajimos di dimos vi vimos
dijiste dijisteis trajiste trajisteis diste disteis viste visteis
dijo dijeron trajo trajeron dio dieron vio vieron

Stem-changing verbs
o ue Verbs like dormir have changes in the third person singular and plural
dormir to sleep dorm, dormiste, durmi, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
morir to die mor, moriste, muri, morimos, moristeis, murieron
e ie Verbs like mentir have changes in the third person singular and plural
advertir to advise, warn advert, advertiste, advirti, advertimos, advertisteis, advirtieron
mentir to lie ment, mentiste, minti, mentimos, mentisteis, mintieron
preferir to prefer prefer, preferiste, prefiri, preferimos, preferisteis, prefirieron
sentir(se) to feel sent, sentiste, sinti, sentimos, sentisteis, sintieron
ei Verbs like pedir have changes in the third person singular and plural
medir to measure, be long med, mediste, midi, medimos, medisteis, midieron
pedir to request, ask for ped, pediste, pidi, pedimos, pedisteis, pidieron
repetir to repeat repet, repetiste, repiti, repetimos, repetisteis, repitieron
seguir to follow, continue segu, seguiste, sigui, seguimos, seguisteis, siguieron
servir to serve serv, serviste, sirvi, servimos, servisteis, sirvieron
Verbs that change i to y in the preterite
For those -er and -ir verbs with a vowel immediately preceding the infinitive ending, the verb ending for the preterite forms follows this
pattern: The third-person singular verb ending changes from -o to -yo, and the third person plural verb changes from -ieron to -yeron,
and in all other conjugated forms in the preterite (instead of only the first-person singular form), the i becomes (with a written accent).
Creer -to believe
cre cremos
creste cresteis
crey creyeron Other common verbs are:
Exception: caer to fall cay, cayeron
caer(se) to fall down se cay, se cayeron
Traer -to bring
leer to read ley, leyeron
traje trajimos
or to hear oy, oyeron
trajiste trajisteis
trajo trajeron
Also, keep in mind that verbs ending with -uir not preceded by g (for example, construir) make the change iy in the third person
conjugated forms, but all the other conjugated forms follow the regular pattern
Construir -to build Other common verbs are:
constru construimos destruir to destroy destruy, destruyeron
construiste construisteis incluir to include incluy, incluyeron
construy construyeron destruir to destroy destruy, destruyeron
huir to flee, run away huy, huyeron

Verbs ending in -ucir

All verbs ending with -ucir are conjugated like conducir, where the c changes to j, and the endings are -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -eron
Conducir -to drive
Other common verbs are:
conduje condujimos
producir to produce produjo, produjeron
condujiste condujisteis
introducir to introduce introdujo, introdujeron
condujo condujeron
reducir to reduce redujo, redujeron
traducir to translate tradujo, tradujeron

Verbs that change meaning in the preterite

Present Preterite
conocer to know (a person/place) to meet
poder to be able (to do something) to manage
no poder not to be able (to do something) to fail (to do something)
querer to want to try
no querer not to want to refuse
saber to know (a fact/information) to find out, learn about
sentir to feel to regret, to be sorry
tener to have to have (at a certain time)