More irregular preterites: tuve, estuve, pude…
A group of common verbs gets a new stem in the past, then all share the same set of endings.
PART01
Theory
New stem + -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. No accents.
tener and estar
| Who | tener | estar |
|---|---|---|
| yo | tuve | estuve |
| tú | tuviste | estuviste |
| él / ella / usted | tuvo | estuvo |
| nosotros/as | tuvimos | estuvimos |
| vosotros/as | tuvisteis | estuvisteis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | tuvieron | estuvieron |
The new stems
| Verb | Stem | yo |
|---|---|---|
| poder | pud- | pude |
| poner | pus- | puse |
| saber | sup- | supe |
| querer | quis- | quise |
| venir | vin- | vine |
| decir | dij- | dije |
| traer | traj- | traje |
Same endings for all
-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron
No accents
tuve, pudo, vino = I had, he / she could, he / she came
Not tuvé, pudó.
j-stems: -eron
dijeron, trajeron = they said, they brought
Not dijieron.
tener que in the past
Tuve que trabajar.
= I had to work.
pude = I managed to
Por fin pude dormir. = At last I managed to sleep.
No pude ir.
= I couldn’t go.
estuve en = I was in / at
Estuve en París en mayo. = I was in Paris in May.
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