Spanish: An Essential Grammar

(avery) #1
Notes:
1 For a list of other common -irradical changing verbs see 10.1.2.1 above.
2 Note that in verbs like freír‘fry’ and reír‘laugh’, the ithat results from the e>
ichange in the 3rd person forms absorbs the iof the corresponding endings: frió
(not ×friió×),frieron (not ×friieron×).

Verbs with irregularities of stem and stress

Some common verbs are stressed on the stemin the 1st and 3rd persons
singular (e.g. vine‘I came’, vino‘he/she came’), in contrast to the regular
forms of the preterite, in which the stress is pronounced on the ending.

All verbs in this group are also irregular in view of their unpredictable stems
(e.g. tuve ‘I had’, from tener).
There are three main patterns within this category, each of which is illus-
trated in Table 10.23. Note that no forms in this category carry a written
accent.

Table 10.23Irregular preterite forms (stress and stem
irregularities)

Person Tener Venir Decir
‘have’ ‘come’ ‘say’

Singular
1 (yo) tuve vine dije
2 (tú/vos) tuviste viniste dijiste
3 (él etc.) tuvo vino dijo
Plural
1 (nosotros) tuvimos vinimos dijimos
2 (vosotros) tuvisteis [SP] vinisteis [SP] dijisteis [SP]
3 (ellos etc.) tuvieron vinieron dijeron

10.4.2.2

1111


2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


1011


1


12111


3 4 5 6 7 8 9


20111


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


30111


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


40


41111


Preterite
tense

117

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