The fifteen strong preterites that cannot be derived
Regular verbs assemble their preterite from a stem and an ending, and there are exactly two sets of endings to learn. The trouble: the most frequent verbs of the language ignore this system — they bring their own stem and their own endings, and nothing about them can be derived. For example: “No pude venir ayer” — I could not come yesterday. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a…
How it works
Regular verbs assemble their preterite from a stem and an ending, and there are exactly two sets of endings to learn. The trouble: the most frequent verbs of the language ignore this system — they bring their own stem and their own endings, and nothing about them can be derived.
The stem changes wholesale: tener → tuv-, hacer → hic-, poder → pud-, poner → pus-, decir → dij-, venir → vin-, saber → sup-, querer → quis-. You memorize it once per verb, and after that it behaves honestly.
The endings, though, are the same for all fifteen — and, crucially, carry no written accent: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. The stress sits on the stem and no accent mark appears anywhere: tuve, not 'tuvé'; hizo, not 'hizó'. That is exactly the opposite of the regular verbs, where the accent is obligatory (hablé, habló) — which is why this is the favourite place to slip.
Two small traps on top. In hacer the third person swaps c for z — hizo: a written c before o would read as k, and the hissing sound would be lost. And stems ending in -j (dijo, trajo) drop the i of the ending in the third-person plural: dijeron and trajeron, not 'dijieron'.
Table
| verb | I | he/she | we |
|---|---|---|---|
| ser / ir | fui | fue | fuimos |
| estar | estuve | estuvo | estuvimos |
| tener | tuve | tuvo | tuvimos |
| hacer | hice | hizo | hicimos |
| poder | pude | pudo | pudimos |
| poner | puse | puso | pusimos |
| decir | dije | dijo | dijimos |
| venir | vine | vino | vinimos |
| dar | di | dio | dimos |
| ver | vi | vio | vimos |
| querer | quise | quiso | quisimos |
| saber | supe | supo | supimos |
| haber | hube | hubo | hubimos |
| traer | traje | trajo | trajimos |
| andar | anduve | anduvo | anduvimos |
By example
- No pude venir ayerI could not come yesterday
- ¿Qué te dijo el médico?What did the doctor say to you?
- Tuvimos que esperar una horaWe had to wait an hour
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
The fifteen strong preterites that cannot be derived: how does it work in Spanish?
Regular verbs assemble their preterite from a stem and an ending, and there are exactly two sets of endings to learn. The trouble: the most frequent verbs of the language ignore this system — they bring their own stem and their own endings, and nothing about them can be derived.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“No pude venir ayer” — I could not come yesterday. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.