The Preterite of RegularER/IR Class Verbs

1. The rules for the preterite of regular AR class verbs apply to the ER/IR Class verbs.

2. To form the preterite of this class of verbs, you add the correct ER/IR preterite ending to the stem of the infinitive.

stem + regular preterite ER/IR ending

3. The preterite endings for ER/IR class verbs are:

yo- í nosotros(as)- imos

tú- iste ustedes- ieron

Ud., él, ella- ió ellos(as)- ieron

Example: Escribir (to write)

Yo escribí

Tú escribiste

Ella escribió

Nosotros escribimos

Ellos escribieron

4. For ER class verbs, the Preterite is NOT the same for the nosotros form as it is with the Present.

ex.: comemos (present tense)

comimos (preterite tense)

5. For IR Class verbs, the nosotros form is the same as it is for the Present Tense.

Ex.: subimos (present)

subimos (preterite)

6. Spelling changes:

a. for any verb whose stem ends in a vowel, ió and ieron change to “yó” and “yeron.”

Example: creer- to think/believe

yo creí

tú creíste

él creyó

nosotros creímos

ellos creyeron

Other verbs like this are oír (hear), leer (read)

caer (fall)

b. The “tú” and “nosotros” forms also require

a written accent for these four verbs.

creíste oíste leíste caíste

creímos oímos leímoscaímos

7. The verb DAR (to give)

Though the verb dar is an AR class verb, it is conjugated as an ER/IR verb In the preterite tense.

Yo di

Tú diste

Usted, él, ella dio

Nosotros dimos

Ustedes, ellos, ellas dieron

Los muchachos dieron una caminata.