Pretérito Indefinido: irregular verbs and conjugations in past simple tense in Spanish (15 real examples)

The pretérito indefinido is the Spanish past simple – the tense you use for finished actions at a specific moment, like ayer fui al cine or el sábado hice la compra. In Spain it sits alongside the pretérito perfecto, which covers actions still connected to the present, such as things you did today. The tricky part is the irregulars: some of the most common verbs in Spanish, including ser, ir, tener and hacer, change their stems completely.

Below is a breakdown of the fully irregular verbs, followed by the verbs that only change their spelling or stem in certain forms. If you want the basics first, start with the pretérito indefinido of regular verbs.

At Speakeasy BCN, we teach the irregular pretérito indefinido as part of our A2.1 curriculum – in week 1 of our intensive 20-hour course, week 2 of our part-time course, and weeks 3 to 5 of our evening Spanish course.

What are the irregular verbs of pretérito indefinido?

Here is a list of irregular verbs in Spanish in the pretérito indefinido that do not follow any particular rules and must simply be memorized. Each conjugation follows yo; tú; él, ella, usted; nosotros, nosotras; vosotros, vosotras; ellos, ellas, ustedes.

• ANDAR (to walk or go): anduve, anduviste, anduvo, anduvimos, anduvisteis, anduvieron

• CABER (to fit): cupe, cupiste, cupo, cupimos, cupisteis, cupieron

• DAR (to give): di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron

• DECIR (to say): dije, dijiste, dijo, dijimos, dijisteis, dijeron

• ESTAR (to be): estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron

• HABER (to have): hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron

• HACER (to do or make): hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

• IR (to go): fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

• OÍR (to hear): oí, oíste, oyó, oímos, oísteis, oyeron

• PODER (to be able to): pude, pudiste, pudo, pudimos, pudisteis, pudieron

• PONER (to put): puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron

• QUERER (to want): quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron

• SABER (to know): supe, supiste, supo, supimos, supisteis, supieron

• SER (to be): fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

• TENER (to have): tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

• TRAER (to bring or take): traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron

• VENIR (to come): vine, viniste, vino, vinimos, vinisteis, vinieron

• VER (to see): vi, viste, vio, vimos, visteis, vieron

Examples

Mis abuelos tuvieron que dejar su país durante la guerra.
My grandparents had to leave their country during the war.

Él anduvo desde la Barceloneta hasta el Barri Gòtic.
He walked from Barceloneta to the Barri Gòtic.

No traje nada a tu casa.
I didn’t bring anything to your house.

¿Por qué fuisteis al médico ayer?
Why did you (plural) go to the doctor yesterday?

Vimos a nuestra profesora del colegio en La Boqueria la semana pasada.
We saw our old school teacher at La Boqueria last week.

El concierto en el Palau de la Música fue increíble.
The concert at the Palau de la Música was incredible.

Estuvimos dos horas haciendo cola para entrar en la Sagrada Família.
We queued for two hours to get into the Sagrada Família.

¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?
What did you do at the weekend?

¿Qué te dijeron en la entrevista?
What did they tell you in the interview?

No pude dormir anoche por el calor.
I couldn't sleep last night because of the heat.

Knowing the forms is half the job – the other half is choosing between the indefinido and the imperfecto when you tell a story about the past.

Verbs that change vowels and consonants in pretérito indefinido

In some cases, vowels have to be changed for both singular and plural third person forms. The other pronouns follow the regular rules.

Stem change – O changes to U

e.g. dormir, morir

Example

dormir (to sleep)
yo dormí, tú dormiste, él/ella/usted durmió, nosotros dormimos, vosotros dormisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes durmieron

Mi hermano durmió en el garaje porque olvidó sus llaves.
My brother slept in the garage because he forgot his keys.

Stem change – E to I

e.g. advertir, consentir, mentir, medir, pedir, repetir, seguir, servir, sentir, sugerir, preferir, gemir, competir

Example

sentir (to feel)
yo sentí, tú sentiste, él/ella/usted sintió, nosotros sentimos, vosotros sentisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes sintieron

Ella sugirió que cenáramos en la Barceloneta.
She suggested we have dinner in Barceloneta.

ER/IR changes to Y

e.g. construir, concluir, huir, sustituir, incluir, contribuir, leer

yo incluí, tú incluiste, él/ella/usted incluyó, nosotros incluimos, vosotros incluisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes incluyeron

Example

Gaudí construyó La Pedrera en el Passeig de Gràcia.
Gaudí built La Pedrera on Passeig de Gràcia.

Preserving Pronunciation

In some cases the stem of an -AR verb is changed to keep the pronunciation in the first person singular. This includes verbs like apagar, buscar, tocar, llegar, averiguar, alcanzar, almorzar, comenzar.

• C to QU: buscar -> busqué

• G to GU: apagar -> apagué

• GU to GÜ: averiguar -> averigüé

• Z to C: comenzar -> comencé

Example

Llegué tarde a clase porque perdí el metro.
I arrived late to class because I missed the metro.

Verbs Ending in -UCIR

For verbs such as traducir, conducir, producir, we must change the C to a J. The endings for these verbs are irregular.

conducir (to drive): yo conduje, tú condujiste, él/ella/usted condujo, nosotros condujimos, vosotros condujisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes condujeron

Example

Condujimos hasta Sitges el domingo.
We drove to Sitges on Sunday.

Ready to put this into practice?

Irregular past forms stick fastest when you use them out loud in real conversation. If you want to learn Spanish in Barcelona, we teach the pretérito indefinido at A2.1 in all three of our general course formats:

• Intensive 20h Course – 20 hours a week, Monday to Friday mornings, covering one level every two weeks.

• Part-intensive 10h Course – 10 hours a week at a balanced pace, with afternoon or early-evening classes.

• Evening 4h Course – 4 hours a week over two evenings, ideal if you work or study during the day.

Want more practice telling stories about your weekend? Our Spanish conversation classes give you the speaking time to make these forms automatic.

Still weighing your options? Browse all our Spanish course options to compare timetables and formats.