Preterite: Irregular 'ER' Verbs (1/3)
Spanish: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 8.2.12
Strong Preterite Root Vowel Changes to 'U'
Strong preterites are verbs that differ from general rules but still follow a pattern. These verbs change their root vowel to a 'u'.
Poder - to be able to
- Pude - I was able to.
- Pudiste - you were able to.
- Pudo - he/she was able to / you were able to (formal).
- Pudimos - we were able to.
- Pudisteis - you were able to (plural).
- Pudieron - they were able to / you were able to (plural formal).
Poner - to put
- Puse - I put.
- Pusiste - you put.
- Puso - he/she put / you put (formal).
- Pusimos - we put.
- Pusisteis - you put (plural).
- Pusieron - they put / you put (formal plural).
- For 'poner', the stem 'pon' becomes 'pus'.
Saber - to know
- Supe - I knew.
- Supiste - you knew.
- Supo - he/she knew / you knew (formal).
- Supimos - we knew.
- Supisteis - you knew (plural).
- Supieron - they knew / you knew (formal plural).
- For saber, the stem 'sab' becomes 'sup'.
Test yourself on Preterite: Irregular 'ER' Verbs (1/3)
How do you say 'we knew' in Spanish?