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8.10 TALKING ABOUT THE PAST: Irregular Verbs
There are certain verbs that don’t follow the pattern of ‘ar’, ‘er’ and ‘ir’ verbs in the past. Let’s cover the important ones.
SER – To be and IR – To go
The verbs ‘ser’ and ‘ir’ have the same form in the preterite (simple past) tense.
Yo fui – I was, I went
Tú fuiste – You were, you went (informal)
Usted fue – You were, you went (formal)
Él/Ella fue – He/She was, he/she went
Nosotros/Nosotras fuimos – We were, we went
Ustedes fueron – You were, you went (plural)
Ellos/Ellas fueron – They were, they went
Let’s look at some examples:
Fui al cine ayer – I went to the cinema yesterday
¿Fuiste al supermercado esta mañana? – Did you go to the supermarket this morning?
La señora fue muy amable – The lady was very nice
Fuimos buenos amigos en la escuela – We were good friends in school.
Los futbolistas fueron amables – The soccer players were nice
Ustedes fueron nuestros vecinos en Madrid, ¿verdad? – You were our neighbors in Madrid, right?
ESTAR – To be and TENER – To have
The verbs ‘Estar’ – ‘to be’ and ‘Tener’ – ‘to have’ have similar irregular conjugations in the preterite tense.
ESTAR – To be |
|
Yo estuve |
I was |
Tú estuviste |
You were (informal) |
Usted estuvo |
You were (formal) |
Él/Ella estuvo |
He/She was |
Nosotros/Nosotras estuvimos |
We were |
Ustedes estuvieron |
You were (plural) |
Ellos/Ellas estuvieron |
They were |
TENER – To have |
|
Yo tuve |
I had |
Tú tuviste |
You had (informal) |
Usted tuvo |
You had (formal) |
Él/Ella tuvo |
He/She had |
Nosotros/Nosotras tuvimos |
We had |
Ustedes tuvieron |
You had |
Ellos/Ellas tuvieron |
They had |
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Let’s look at some examples with the verb 'estar':
Estuve preocupado ayer – I was worried yesterday
¿Estuviste enfermo/a anoche? – Were you sick last night?
Ella estuvo en Londres el mes pasado – She was in London last month
Ellos estuvieron cansados después de la fiesta – They were tired after the party
And now some examples with the verb 'tener':
No tuve suficiente tiempo para terminar el trabajo – I didn’t have enough time to finish the job
Tuviste mucha suerte – You were lucky (lit. You had luck)
Él tuvo que salir temprano – He had to leave early (‘tener que’ – ‘to have to’)
Tuvimos un accidente hace tres meses – We had an accident 3 months ago
(Ellos) tuvieron un buen viaje – They had a good trip
DECIR – To say and TRAER – To bring
DECIR – To say |
|
Yo dije |
I said |
Tú dijiste |
You said (informal) |
Usted dijo |
You said (formal) |
Él/Ella dijo |
He/She said |
Nosotros/Nosotras dijimos |
We said |
Ustedes dijeron |
You said (plural) |
Ellos/Ellas dijeron |
They said |
TRAER – To bring |
|
Yo traje |
I brought |
Tú trajiste |
You brought (informal) |
Usted trajo |
You brought (formal) |
Él/Ella trajo |
He/She brought |
Nosotros/Nosotras trajimos |
We brought |
Ustedes trajeron |
You brought |
Ellos/Ellas trajeron |
They brought |
Click here to listen
Let’s look at some examples with 'decir':
No dije nada – I didn’t say anything
¿Lo dijiste ayer? – Did you say it yesterday?
Ella nos dijo varias veces – She told us several times
Dijimos la verdad – We told the truth
Ellos dijeron que es cierto – They said it was right
Now examples with 'traer':
Te traje una camiseta – I brought you a T-Shirt
¿Trajiste algo para la fiesta? – Did you bring something for the party?
Ella me trajo un regalo – She brought me a present
Trajimos el vino que te gusta – We brought the wine you like
Ellos trajeron los niños – They brought the kids