The Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) is a crucial part of Spanish grammar. Probably it is the most popular past tense in Spanish. However, one of the most challenging aspects of using this tense is mastering their irregular forms. As any other Spanish verb tense, the Preterite has both regular and irregular verbs. In this article, we are going to go through the vowel changes in Spanish Preterite verbs.

Vowel Changes in Spanish Preterite Verbs

In Spanish, there are some verbs that are irregular in the yo form in Preterite. In this article, we are going to learn verbs that have vowel changes in Spanish Preterite. These verbs are only irregular in the third person forms (él, ella, ellos, ellas). We will start by looking at verbs that change –e– in their stem to –i– in the third person forms. Then we will learn verbs that have an –o– in the infinitive that is replaced by –u– in Preterite, also in the third person forms.

Vowel Change: E into I

Some verbs that belong to the group of –ir verbs form their Preterite by changing –e– into –i– in the third person forms. Some of them are vestir (to dress), pedir (to ask for, to order) or repetir (to repeat).

VestirPedirRepetir
vestí
vestiste
vistió
vestimos
vestisteis
vistieron		pedí
pediste
pidió
pedimos
pedisteis
pidieron		repetí
repetiste
repitió
repetimos
repetisteis
repitieron

Ella vistió a su hijo con un traje para ir a una boda.

She dressed her son up in a suit to go to a wedding.

Carlos pidió sopa de pescado y un poco de pan.

Carlos ordered fish soup and some bread.

Los estudiantes repitieron el ejercicio porque tenía muchos errores.

The students repeated the exercise because it had many mistakes.

The following verbs also have the same vowel changes in Spanish Preterite (from –e– to –i–).

  • medir (to measure)
  • mentir (to lie)
  • sentir (to feel)
  • invertir (to invert)
  • servir (to serve)
  • conseguir (to get)
  • seguir (to continue)
  • preferir (to prefer)
  • competir (to compete)
  • divertir (to have fun)
  • herir (to injure)
  • perseguir (to chase)
  • despedir (to fire)
  • reír (to laugh)
  • hervir (to boil)
  • arrepentirse (to regret)
  • advertir (to warn)
  • sugerir (to suggest)

Los sastres midieron la tela con cuidado.

The tailors measured the fabric with care.

Él me mintió, su número de teléfono no existe.

He lied to me, his phone number doesn’t exist.

¿Ustedes se sintieron cómodos en la casa de Lucía?

Did you feel comfortable in Lucia’s house?

Gloria invirtió mucho tiempo en aprender música.

Gloria invested much time in learning music.

Ellos sirvieron el té con galletas a sus hijos.

They served tea and cookies to their children.

Consiguió el primer puesto de la carrera.

She got first place in the race.

La niña siguió jugando con sus amigas.

The girl continued playing with her friends.

Lucía prefirió el vestido azul. El rojo no le gustó.

Lucía preferred the blue dress. She didn’t like the red one.

Compitieron diez atletas italianas, pero no terminaron la carrera.

Ten Italian athletes competed, but they didn’t finish the race.

Las chicas se divirtieron en la fiesta. La música fue increíble.

The girls enjoyed themselves at the party. The music was incredible.

Vowel Change: O into U

The verbs dormir (to sleep) and morir (to die) form their Preterite by changing –o– into –u– in the third person forms.

DormirMorir
dormí
dormiste
durmió
dormimos
dormisteis
durmieron		morí
moriste
murió
morimos
moristeis
murieron

Miguel y Ruth no durmieron nada anoche. Están cansados.

Miguel and Ruth didn’t sleep at all last night. They are tired.

Ayer murió nuestro vecino. Su mujer y sus hijos están tristes.

Yesterday our neighbor died. His wife and children are sad.

Exercises

In this article, we have covered everything you need to know about vowel changes in Spanish Preterite verbs. Now, let’s do some exercises to practice these vowel changes in Spanish Preterite verbs.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Categorized in:

Pretérito IndefinidoGrammar