Preterite Irregular Verbs

The preterite tense has a significant number of irregular verbs. The good news is that most of these irregulars follow recognisable patterns — they share a special set of endings and have predictable stem changes. Once you learn the pattern, you can conjugate dozens of verbs.

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The Special Irregular Preterite Endings

Irregular preterite verbs use a unique set of endings that differ from both regular -AR and regular -ER/-IR patterns:

Person	Irregular ending
yo	-e
tú	-iste
él / ella / usted	-o
nosotros / nosotras	-imos
vosotros / vosotras	-isteis
ellos / ellas / ustedes	-ieron

Critical difference: Notice there are no accent marks on the yo (-e) and él/ella (-o) forms. This is the opposite of regular preterite verbs. Compare: regular hablé (accent) vs. irregular tuve (no accent).

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Stem-Changing Irregular Verbs

Each irregular verb has a new stem that replaces the infinitive stem. Here are the most important ones:

Infinitive	Meaning	Irregular stem
tener	to have	tuv-
estar	to be (state/location)	estuv-
poder	to be able to	pud-
poner	to put	pus-
saber	to know	sup-
querer	to want	quis-
venir	to come	vin-
hacer	to do/make	hic- / hiz-
decir	to say/tell	dij-
traer	to bring	traj-
conducir	to drive	conduj-
producir	to produce	produj-
traducir	to translate	traduj-

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Full Conjugation Tables

Tener (to have) — stem: tuv-

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	tuve	I had
tú	tuviste	you had
él / ella / usted	tuvo	he/she had
nosotros/as	tuvimos	we had
vosotros/as	tuvisteis	you all had
ellos / ellas / ustedes	tuvieron	they had

Estar (to be) — stem: estuv-

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	estuve	I was
tú	estuviste	you were
él / ella / usted	estuvo	he/she was
nosotros/as	estuvimos	we were
vosotros/as	estuvisteis	you all were
ellos / ellas / ustedes	estuvieron	they were

Poder (to be able to) — stem: pud-

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	pude	I was able to / I managed to
tú	pudiste	you were able to
él / ella / usted	pudo	he/she was able to
nosotros/as	pudimos	we were able to
vosotros/as	pudisteis	you all were able to
ellos / ellas / ustedes	pudieron	they were able to

Poner (to put) — stem: pus-

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	puse	I put
tú	pusiste	you put
él / ella / usted	puso	he/she put
nosotros/as	pusimos	we put
vosotros/as	pusisteis	you all put
ellos / ellas / ustedes	pusieron	they put

Saber (to know) — stem: sup-

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	supe	I found out / I learned
tú	supiste	you found out
él / ella / usted	supo	he/she found out
nosotros/as	supimos	we found out
vosotros/as	supisteis	you all found out
ellos / ellas / ustedes	supieron	they found out

Note on saber: In the preterite, saber often means "to find out" or "to learn (a fact)" rather than simply "to know."

Querer (to want) — stem: quis-