28. Irregular Verbs in the Past — Part 2
Source: video
Part 2 finishes the irregular preterites: a few one-off "miscellaneous" verbs (caber, poder, saber, querer), the ver/dar pair, the stem-changing -ir verbs that change only in the third person, the y-insertion verbs (leer, creer, oír), and the yo-only spelling changes for -car, -gar, -zar verbs.
Key Rules
Caber → cupe, poder → pude, saber → supe, querer → quise — all share the same irregular pattern as Part 1.Ver and dar use the regular -er/-ir preterite endings but without accents: vi, viste, vio… and di, diste, dio….- Stem-changing
-ir verbs (sentir, pedir, dormir…) keep regular endings but change e→i or o→u only in él/ella and ellos.
Leer, creer, oír insert a y in the él/ellos forms and require accents on most other forms (to keep two adjacent vowels pronounced separately).- Yo-only spelling changes:
-car → -qué, -gar → -gué, -zar → -cé.
Conjugation / Pattern Tables
Miscellaneous irregular preterites
| Verb |
yo |
tú |
él |
nosotros |
vosotros |
ellos |
| caber (to fit) |
cupe |
cupiste |
cupo |
cupimos |
cupisteis |
cupieron |
| poder (could) |
pude |
pudiste |
pudo |
pudimos |
pudisteis |
pudieron |
| saber (knew) |
supe |
supiste |
supo |
supimos |
supisteis |
supieron |
| querer (wanted) |
quise |
quisiste |
quiso |
quisimos |
quisisteis |
quisieron |
ver / dar — preterite (regular endings, no accents)
| Pronoun |
ver |
dar |
| yo |
vi |
di |
| tú |
viste |
diste |
| él |
vio |
dio |
| nosotros |
vimos |
dimos |
| vosotros |
visteis |
disteis |
| ellos |
vieron |
dieron |
Stem-changing -ir verbs (e → i, o → u in 3rd person only)
preferir (e → i)
| yo |
preferí |
nosotros |
preferimos |
| tú |
preferiste |
vosotros |
preferisteis |
| él |
prefirió |
ellos |
prefirieron |
dormir (o → u)
| yo |
dormí |
nosotros |
dormimos |
| tú |
dormiste |
vosotros |
dormisteis |
| él |
durmió |
ellos |
durmieron |
Other e→i: mentir, sentir, seguir, conseguir, repetir, servir, pedir.
Other o→u: morir.
leer / creer / oír (y-insertion + accents)
| Pronoun |
leer |
creer |
oír |
| yo |
leí |
creí |
oí |
| tú |
leíste |
creíste |
oíste |
| él |
leyó |
creyó |
oyó |
| nosotros |
leímos |
creímos |
oímos |
| vosotros |
leísteis |
creísteis |
oísteis |
| ellos |
leyeron |
creyeron |
oyeron |
yo-only spelling changes
| Ending |
yo form |
Example |
| -car |
-qué |
practicar → practiqué |
| -gar |
-gué |
jugar → jugué |
| -zar |
-cé |
organizar → organicé |
All other forms of these verbs are regular.
Examples
| Spanish |
English |
| Yo pude hablar con él. |
I could speak with him. |
| Tú pudiste ir a la fiesta. |
You could go to the party. |
| Yo supe quién ganó el juego. |
I found out who won the game. |
| Yo quise jugar contigo. |
I wanted to play with you. |
| Ella quiso abrir la puerta. |
She wanted to open the door. |
| Yo te vi en la fiesta. |
I saw you at the party. |
| Tú viste a mi madre en la casa. |
You saw my mother at the house. |
| Él vio cómo yo hice mi tarea. |
He saw how I did my homework. |
| Yo te di mi lápiz. |
I gave you my pencil. |
| Él nos dio el pase. |
He gave us the pass. |
| Yo practiqué el piano ayer. |
I practiced piano yesterday. |
| Yo jugué al fútbol. |
I played soccer. |
| Yo organicé mis libros. |
I organized my books. |
Notes & Gotchas
Saber in the preterite (supe) often means "I found out" rather than "I knew."Querer in the preterite (quise) implies the wanting is over; no quise = "I refused."Poder in the preterite (pude) = "I managed to" / "I could (and did)." Don't confuse with the conditional podría ("I could / would be able to").- The 3rd-person stem changes for
-ir verbs in preterite mirror the same letter changes seen in present tense (pedir → pide → pidió).
- The yo spelling changes (
-qué, -gué, -cé) preserve the consonant sound of the infinitive.
47a7871c38