Irregular u-stems in the preterite
Several common verbs have highly irregular stems in the preterite tense that feature the letter u. Instead of the regular endings, they all share a unique set of endings. Notice that unlike regular preterite verbs, these endings do not use any written accents!
| Pronoun | U-stem ending |
|---|---|
| yo | -e |
| tú | -iste |
| él/ella/usted | -o |
| nosotros/nosotras | -imos |
| vosotros/vosotras | -isteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | -ieron |
Verbs with -uv-
The verbs estar (to be), tener (to have), and andar (to walk) all change their stems to end in -uv- before adding the new endings: estuv-, tuv-, and anduv-.
| I was there, but I did not try to jump the obstacle. | Estuve allí, pero no intenté saltar el obstáculo. |
| Yesterday the woman had the courage to overcome her fear. | Ayer la mujer tuvo el valor de superar su miedo. |
| We walked a lot, but the plan failed. | Anduvimos mucho, pero el plan fracasó. |
Poder and Saber
The verb poder (to be able to) changes its stem to pud-.
| They tried to overcome the obstacle, but they could not. | Intentaron superar el obstáculo, pero no pudieron. |
The verb saber (to know) changes its stem to sup-. Note that when used in the preterite, saber usually translates to "found out" rather than "knew".
| No one found out how he achieved that result. | Nadie supo cómo él logró ese resultado. |
Overcoming obstacles
You will often use these irregular preterite verbs together to tell stories about trying hard, facing obstacles, and ultimately achieving your goals.
| Last year the girl had an obstacle, but with effort she was able to achieve success. | El año pasado la chica tuvo un obstáculo, pero con esfuerzo pudo lograr el éxito. |
| The girls found out the result, and they were happy. | Las chicas supieron el resultado y estuvieron contentas. |
