54 Puse, vine, fue: Strong preterit

The preterit has few verbs that are irregular. One of them is the verb ser=“to be” and ir=“to go”, which in the preterit are exactly the same. Only the context will tell which one this is referring to:

• Yo fui=I went/I was
• Tú fuiste=You went/You were
• Él/ella/usted fue=He/She/you(formal) went / He/She was OR formal you were
• Nosotros/nosotras fuimos=We went/We were
• Ellos/ellas/ustedes fueron=They/You(plural) went / They were/You(plural) were

The usage of SER in preterit is rare or to state a single event is quite reare, and it’s way most common in imperfect: era, eras, era, éramos, eran.

• Fui allá=I went there
• Vino acá=He came here.

Some others are irregulars that place the stress in the syllable before last. It’s like force brings the stress up there. That’s why it’s called strong preterit. Some examples are:

The strong preterit involves the irregular conjugation of the preterit with stress on the before last syllable. It’s called “strong” because it’s as if the verb were strong to make the stress climb up one slot.

Verbo       Raíz -u-       Verbo        Raíz -i-         Verbo              Raíz -j-

andar        anduv-         hacer         hic-               producir           produj-

estar         estuv-           querer        quis-             traer                  traj-

poder       pud-              venir           vin-                      

poner       pus-               decir           dij-               decir                  dij-

saber        sup-                                    

tener        tuv-                                    

Conj.:                   -e                          -imos

-iste                      -isteis

-o                          -ieron

Other irregular preterit forms:

ser, ir        fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron

decir        dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijeron

dar           di, diste, dio, dimos, dieron

dormir     dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, durmieron (same as morir)

pedir       pedí, pediste, pidió, pedimos, pidieron (same as seguir, servir, repetir, sentir)

Sample conversation:

Talking about the past

A: ¿A dónde ____________ (verb ir=to go in the preterit) ayer?

B: Yo _______________ (verb ir=to go in the preterit) a _________________ (add place).

A: ¿Dónde _________________ (verb “poner” in the preterit) tu mochila?

B: Yo la __________________ (verb “poner” in the preterit) ___________________ (add place).

Roommate drama

You ask your roommate why is she or he angry. She or he responds with something you did.

A: ¿Por qué te ____________ (verb “poner” in the preterit) bravo OR brava? (=Why did you get angry?)

B: Yo me ____________ (verb “poner” in the preterit) bravo OR brava porque tú ____________ (add another verb in the preterit, you form).

A: No es verdad, yo no ____________ (repeat verb in the preterit, yo-form)

Sample verbs:

• ir donde mi exnovio OR exnovia (=to go where my exboyfriend OR exnovia)
• venir a mi casa borracho OR borracha (=to come to my house drunk)
• robar mi yogurt (=to steal my yogurt): robé (=I stole), robaste (=you stole)
• ponerSE mi ropa (=to wear my clothes)
• decir chismes sobre mí (=tell gossip): dije (=I said), dijiste (you said)
• decir groserías (=tell bad words)
• poner música muy duro (=to play loud music)