Learn about irregular verbs in the preterit tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fernando: “Did you come here just to give me a hard time in Spanish?” JP espero que no haya sido el caso. |
| JP: No, never. |
| Fernando: Que bueno. |
| JP: Never, Fernando. How are you doing? |
| Fernando: Bien gracias. ¿Tú? |
| JP: I’m doing just great. What are we going to talk about in this lesson? |
| Fernando: En esta lección revisaremos los verbos irregulares en el tiempo pretérito. Esta conversación toma lugar en un restaurante, la conversación es entre Belén y Gonzalo y estarán utilizando el registro familiar. |
| JP: All right, here we go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Gonzalo: Perdón, pero estás sentada en mi lugar. |
| Belén: Creo que te equivocas; cuando llegué este lugar estaba vacío. Y el cantinero no me dijo nada. |
| Gonzalo: No es su trabajo decirte algo. Toma tu órden y ya. De los lugares yo me encargo. Fui al baño. Por eso digo que éste es mi lugar. |
| Belén: Pues tardaste bastante porque llevo aquí más de veinte minutos. ¿Andas malo de la panza? |
| Gonzalo: Eh... Estuve en una llamada de trabajo. Por eso me tardé.¡Pero no me cambies el tema! O bueno, ¿está libre este asiento a tu lado? |
| Belén: Ay, mi amor. Te sonrojaste cuando te pregunté si andabas mal de la panza. Dame un beso y siéntate; ya quiero pedir algo de tomar. |
| Gonzalo: Excuse me, but you're sitting in my seat. |
| Belén: I think you're mistaken; when I arrived, this seat was empty. And the bartender didn't say anything to me. |
| Gonzalo: It's not the bartender's job to say something to you. He takes your order and that's it. I'm the one in charge of seating. I went to the bathroom. That's why I'm saying this is my seat. |
| Belén: Well you took long enough, because I've been here for twenty minutes. Does your tummy hurt? |
| Gonzalo: Um...I was on a work call. That's why it took so long. But don't change the subject. Or else, is the seat next to you free? |
| Belén: Oh, my dear, you blushed when I asked if your tummy hurt. Give me a kiss and sit down; I want to order something to drink already. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| JP: All right, Fernando. We’re back. And what the heck is going on in this dialogue? Because it starts out like they’re strangers… |
| Fernando: Sí y como que no se llevan. Como que te estan a punto de… entrar en una discusión muy acalorada. |
| JP: Yes. |
| Fernando: E... |
| JP: Is it a role playing thing, it’s a couple thing? |
| Fernando: Vamos a ver en un ratito vamos a saber. |
| JP: Ok. So, Gonzalo shows up and he says “Excuse me, you’re staying in my seat.” |
| Fernando: “Perdón, pero estás sentada en mi lugar.” |
| JP: All right. “lugar” usually means “place”. |
| Fernando: En este caso “lugar” es el asiento cosa que Belén le contesta: “Creo que te equivocas; cuando llegué este lugar estaba vacío.” Es decir… |
| JP: Yes, it was free, because no one was sitting there. |
| Fernando: “Y el cantinero no me dijo nada.” |
| JP: It’s funny because it seems like they’re strangers, but they are addressing each other in the familiar register. They’re saying “estas sentada, creo que te equivocas”, these are the “tú” forms. |
| Fernando: Sí los on y después nos enteraremos de porque se hablan así. Gonzalo le contesta: “No es su trabajo decirte algo. ” |
| JP: “It’s not his job to kick me out.”, right? |
| Fernando: “Toma tu órden y ya.De los lugares yo me encargo.” |
| JP: Ok, “I’m the one in charge of sitting.” |
| Fernando: “Fui al baño. Por eso digo que éste es mi lugar.” |
| JP: Ok. So, his argument is that he just got up to go to the bathroom, and it’s still his seat. She can’t just move in and take somebody’s seat. |
| Fernando: Ese es el argumento de Gonzalo y al parecer esta un poquito enojado con ella. |
| JP: Right. |
| Fernando: Pero es todo un show. |
| JP: Ok. |
| Fernando: Belén, respondiendo: “Pues tardaste bastante porque llevo aquí más de veinte minutos.” |
| JP: Ok. “I’ve been here for 20 minutes.” |
| Fernando: Y luego viene el chistesito de Belén: “¿Andas malo de la panza?” |
| JP: Would you translate it as “Does your tummy hurt?” Ok. So, this conversation is turning. |
| Fernando: Y ahora Belén lo tiene justo donde lo quiere a Gonzalo. |
| JP: Sí. |
| Fernando: Un poco incomodo, etc etc. “Estuve en una llamada de trabajo. ” |
| JP: Ok, he makes up an excuse, right? He doesn’t want talk about his “panza”. |
| Fernando: “Por eso me tardé.¡Pero no me cambies el tema! O bueno, ¿está libre este asiento a tu lado?” |
| JP: All right. “Can I seat next to you?” She caught him off guard. |
| Fernando: Bastante. “Ay, mi amor. Te sonrojaste cuando te pregunté si andabas mal de la panza. ” |
| JP: Ok, so now the role playing is over. She calls him, so, she calls him in term of endearment, “mi amor”. |
| Fernando: “Dame un beso y siéntate; ya quiero pedir algo de tomar.” |
| JP: Ok. So, now it feels like they’re a couple that’s been together a long time. Now we’re talking about, you know, stomach problems and it’s like the role playing is over. |
| Fernando: Exacto. |
| JP: “Give me a kiss and sit down, I want to get something to drink, this little game was over. It was fun, but…” |
| Fernando: Ya estuvo. Ya nadamas era pasar un momento incómodo. |
| JP: Yes, I think she won. Shall we go to the vocabulary? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fernando: Sí. El lugar |
| JP: “Place” |
| Fernando: el lu-gar, el lugar. La panza. |
| JP: “Stomach”, “belly”, “tummy” |
| Fernando: la pan-za, la panza. Sonrojar. |
| JP: “To blush” |
| Fernando: son-ro-jar, sonrojar. El cantinero. |
| JP: “Bartender” |
| Fernando: el can-ti-ne-ro, el cantinero. Estamos de regreso JP, empecemos con “el lugar”. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| JP: “El lugar”, ok. Usually means “place”. In the context of our dialogue today it meant “a place to seat”. |
| Fernando: Y se utiliza mucho en español. ¿Está ocupado este lugar? ¿Te vas a quedar en este lugar? |
| JP: Right. I think in English we’d say “Is this seat taken?”, “Are you in my seats?”, even if it’s not a seat, if it’s just a place to sit. |
| Fernando: En ingles seria un poquito más específico. |
| JP: El lugar |
| Fernando: El cantinero. |
| JP: This is the “bartender”, “el cantinero”. You know, this is a new word for me, but I can see how it means “bartender”, because “cantina” is sometimes a word for “bar”. |
| Fernando: Y cantinero se utiliza mucho también. |
| JP: El cantinero. |
| Fernando: Bueno yo lo utilizo. |
| JP: ¿Sí? |
| Fernando: No te creas. |
| JP: Ok. |
| Fernando: Bueno nada se utiliza en la cantina. |
| JP: I’ve also heard the terms “el barman”, “el camarero” for a “waiter” in general, but also the “bartender”. |
| Fernando: “Bartender” |
| JP: El cantinero. |
| Fernando: La siguiente palabra: la panza. |
| JP: “La panza”. Now, this is the word that tripped up Gonzalo a little bit, because Belen said “andas mal de la panza”, ok? “Does your tummy hurt?”, “Does your belly hurt?” It’s not like a mainly part of the body, it’s… |
| Fernando: Es simplemente… en este contexto quizá tenga problemas de la panza. |
| JP: Right. So, digestive problems are kind of… |
| Fernando: Exacto. |
| JP: Embarrassing to talk about. |
| Fernando: Un poquito, sobre todo cuando dices que vas al baño y regresas veinte minutos después. |
| JP: Ok. I see. “la panza” is your… |
| Fernando: La panza. |
| JP: Tummy, your belly. |
| Fernando: La última palabra: sonrojar. |
| JP: Sonrojar – “to blush”. |
| Fernando: Me gusta esta palabra, me gusta como suena. |
| JP: “Sonrojar”, it sounds like you’re turning red. In fact, if you look closely, the word “rojo” is in the verb. “Sonrojar” |
| Fernando: Y un sinonimo es: enrojecer. |
| JP: “Enrojecer”, all right. They’re exactly the same? |
| Fernando: Siento que sonrojar se aplica más para la traducción en inglés que es... |
| JP: “To blush of embarrassment”? |
| Fernando: Si, enrojecer es más cómo de coraje. |
| JP: Oh, ok. |
| Fernando: Enrojeció del coraje. |
| JP: Sometimes, when people get mad, they turn red. |
| Fernando: Y no es lo mismo que sonrojar. |
| JP: Ok, it’s not the same as blushing. |
| Fernando: Exacto. |
| JP: Sweet. Let’s move on to the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Fernando: En este punto gramatical parecer los verbos irregulares en el tiempo pretérito suena un poquito complicado. ¿Lo es? |
| JP: Well, of course, it depends on how you look at it. I don’t think it’s that complicated. |
| Fernando: Eso es bueno. |
| JP: Ok. Good. Now, my explanation might be a little complicated, but we’ll see, we’ll get through it. |
| Fernando: Hazlo más sencillo entonces. |
| JP: All right, Fernando. Let’s have a look at the dialogue. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… I count seven verbs in the Preterit. Four of them are totally regular. We have the verb “llegar”, which means “to show up” and Belen says “When I showed up, it was empty.” |
| Fernando: “cuando llegué este lugar estaba vacío.” |
| JP: Another time, Belen says “You took long enough.” |
| Fernando: “tardaste bastante ” |
| JP: “tardaste bastante ”.”Tardaste” is the verb “tardar”, and it’s in the Preterit. And it’s regular, also. Another time, Belen says “You turn red.” or “You blushed.” |
| Fernando: “Te sonrojaste ” |
| JP: “Te sonrojaste ”, this is a regular verb in the Preterit. And also she goes on to say “You turned red when I asked you.” |
| Fernando: “Te sonrojaste cuando te pregunté ” |
| JP: “cuando te pregunté”. That “pregunté” is the verb “preguntar”, which means “to ask”, as in “asking a question”. Those four verbs are examples of the regular formation of the Preterit Tense. Now, there’s more Preterit verbs in here, but we’re going to have to have a discussion about their forms, because they’re a little bit irregular. Now, first of all, there’s the true irregular verb “ir”, which Gonzalo uses when he says “I went to the bathroom.” |
| Fernando: “ Fui al baño.” |
| JP: “ Fui al baño.”. Now, that form “fui” has very little to do with the Infinitive, which is “ir”. Usually, when you conjugate a verb, there’s a least a little bit of resemblance to the dictionary form. |
| Fernando: Un poquito, sí. |
| JP: A little bit. But here, “fui” and “ir” look totally, radically different. |
| Fernando: Totalmente diferentes. |
| JP: So, we say that “ir” is one of the true irregulars in the Preterit Tense. Another verb that’s truly irregular in the Preterit Tense is “ser”. Let me think of an example to use “ser” in the Preterit. Like if you are in the courtroom, and the lawyer asks you “Who was the murderer?” You can stand up and say “It was him.” |
| Fernando: Fue él. |
| JP: “Fue”. You can see that the Preterit form “fue” is radically different from the Infinitive “ser”. Now you might have noticed that “ir” and “ser” have the exact same Preterit forms. “fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron”. Those are both “ir” and “ser”. How can they possibly use the same forms with those two different verbs? But, I’ve been speaking Spanish for a while, and this doesn’t seem like anybody ever gets confused if it’s “to go” or “to be”. |
| Fernando: Curiosamente no, |
| JP: No. |
| Fernando: rara vez he notado alguna diferencia. |
| JP: Me too. So, “ir” and “ser”, those are true irregulars. Now, there’s another set of verbs in the Preterit Tense that we commonly refer to as irregular, but they’re not truly irregular. They all share the same common set of endings, and they do have stem changes. There’s only a handful of these verbs, and they’re very common, so they’re very easy to learn. Let’s find an example from the dialogue. One of them is “estar”. So, when Gonzalo says “I was on a work call.” |
| Fernando: “Estuve en una llamada de trabajo.” |
| JP: That “estuve” is the verb “estar” in the Preterit. Now, you might wonder what that “v” comes from. “estuve”. And that is part of the irregular stem. This set of verbs that are not radically irregular, but a little bit irregular, have different stems. And the Preterit stem for “estar” is “estuv”. So, if you put that together with the irregular endings, you get “estuve, estuviste, estuvo”. Now, the different that has a different stem is the verb “decir”, and Belen uses “decir” in the Preterit Tense when she says that the bartender didn’t tell her anything. |
| Fernando: “Y el cantinero no me dijo nada.” |
| JP: “...no me dijo nada”. That “dijo” is the verb “decir” and it’s in the Preterit Tense. You’ll notice, it’s “dijo”. So, it’s got an irregular stem and it’s also to got the irregular endings. Now, I’m going to go through a couple of these examples, I mean at least stop of some of the irregular verbs in this class. But, definitely, I think you’re going to want to take a look at the grammar section of this lesson, which you’ll find at our website, www.Spanishpod.com If you click over in the grammar section, you’ll see a list of all the verbs and also the irregular endings. And I think that looking at this on the computer screen is something that would help you understand this better. So, let’s quickly go over some of those verbs. Fernando, how about if I say the Infinitive and then you say that you did it? |
| Fernando: Ok. |
| JP: Ok. So, if I say “comer” – “to eat”, you say “I ate”. |
| Fernando: Comí. |
| JP: Now, “comer” is regular. So, it’s not a big deal. How about “andar” – “to walk”? |
| Fernando: Anduve. |
| JP: “Anduve”. The irregular stem is “anduv”. How about to drive, “conducir”? |
| Fernando: Conduje. |
| JP: “Conduje”. The irregular stem is “conduj”. All right. How about “querer” – “to want” or “to love”? |
| Fernando: Quise. |
| JP: “Quise”. The irregular stem is “quis”. And one more. How about “to have” “tener”? |
| Fernando: Tuve. |
| JP: “Tuve” – “I had”. The irregular stem is “tuv”. And so you get “tuve, tuviste, tuvo” which is “I had”, “I had, you had, he had, she had”. You know, Fernando, I never get tired of talking about these conjugations. |
| Fernando: Ya lo creo. |
| JP: Now, remember that we’re talking about the Preterit Tense, so it’s kind of hard to motivate a past action with the verb to have, which is usually a quality or state of ownership. When you use to have in the Preterit, you, it’s an action that happens, so maybe you could say “I had an accident.” |
| Fernando: Tuve un accidente. |
| JP: Something sad in there happened. Or, “She had an idea.” |
| Fernando: Tuvo una idea. |
| JP: Ok. There’s kind of a feeling that it happened suddenly or it happened quickly. It wasn’t just that she owned an idea, she had it. “Bam.”, it happened in the past. |
| Fernando: De repente tuvo una idea. |
| JP: “Suddenly, she had an idea.” Now, be careful when you’re using this, because a lot of my students used to make this mistake when I’d asked them to give me a sentence with “tener” in the Preterit. They would think “Ok, “to have”. I had pancakes for breakfast.” So, they would say “Tuve panqueques para desayuno” which to me sounded very strange. |
| Fernando: No es comun. |
| JP: No, no. |
| Fernando: Definitivamente. |
| JP: They had to say “Comí panqueques”, right? |
| Fernando: Comí hotcakes or pancakes. |
| JP: But not “tuve”. You don’t suddenly have pancakes. |
| Fernando: Poco raro. |
Outro |
| JP: Keep in mind, folks, that all these verbs that we listed they are in the Preterit. They are one time actions that happen maybe suddenly. That’s all I have for the grammar point today. |
| Fernando: JP es hora de irnos. |
| JP: Hasta luego. |
| Fernando: Adios. |
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