Irregular Preterite
Ir and ser share fui/fuiste/fue. Tener→tuve, hacer→hice/hizo, poder→pude, estar→estuve. Master the high-frequency irregular preterites.
A lesson of Spanish A2 — Elementary, in Past Tense, about 10 minutes.
Irregular Preterite (Pretérito Irregular)
By the end of this lesson, you will know the most important irregular preterite verbs — ir/ser, tener, hacer, poder, estar, and others — and be able to use them in sentences about the past.
Why These Verbs Are Truly Irregular
Unlike the spelling-change group (buscar → busqué), the verbs here change their entire stem — the vowel and sometimes consonants shift completely. There is no shortcut: these must be memorized. The good news is they are among the most common verbs in Spanish, so you'll encounter them constantly.
Ir and Ser: Identical in the Preterite
Ir (to go) and ser (to be) are spelled exactly the same in the preterite. Context always makes the meaning clear.
| Pronoun | Ir / Ser preterite |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | fue |
| nosotros | fuimos |
| vosotros | fuisteis |
| ellos/Uds. | fueron |
- Fui al supermercado. — I went to the supermarket. (ir)
- Fue un día difícil. — It was a difficult day. (ser)
The U-Stem Group (uv / uj / up)
These verbs share irregular stems and a special set of endings (no accent marks):
Shared endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron
| Infinitive | Stem | yo | él/ella |
|---|---|---|---|
| estar | estuv- | estuve | estuvo |
| tener | tuv- | tuve | tuvo |
| poder | pud- | pude | pudo |
| poner | pus- | puse | puso |
| saber | sup- | supe | supo |
| caber | cup- | cupe | cupo |
| andar | anduv- | anduve | anduvo |
Full tener example: