2.7 Lesson Flashcards
Common verbs irregular in the preterite (past) tense
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I looked for my shoes in every room in this house
Busqué mis zapatos en cada cuarto de esta casa
to look for - buscar. Note that buscar, like other -car ending verbs will change its stem from -c- to -qu- in the first person preterite
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I already explained to you a thousand times how to do this
Ya te expliqué mil veces cómo hacer esto
to explain - explicar. Follows the same -c- to -qu- base change pattern as buscar
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I practiced a lot, but you’re still better than I am
Practiqué mucho, pero todavía eres mejor que yo
to practice - practicar.
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I used to have a lot of problems with that car, so I sold it
Tenía muchos problemas con ese carro, entonces lo vendí
problem - el problema
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My husband never listens to me
Mi esposo nunca me escucha
to listen to - escuchar. Note that while in English, we use the preposition “to”, in Spanish no preposition is necessary with the verb escuchar
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I am going to wait for my sister before going to the store
Voy a esperar a mi hermana antes de ir a la tienda
to wait for - esperar. Note that while in English, we use the preposition “for”, in Spanish no preposition is necessary. (In this sentence, a mi hermana simply uses a “personal a”)
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I hope so
Espero que sí
to hope - esperar. Note that the word esperar means both “to hope” and “to wait”
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I took out the garbage last night
Saqué la basura anoche
garbage - la basura. Remember that sacar means “to take out”
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I already handed in my homework, did you?
Ya entregué mi tarea, ¿y tú?
to hand in, to hand over - entregar
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When I arrived home, my brother called to say that I didn’t pay for my drinks. I was so embarassed!
Cuando llegué a casa, mi hermano me llamó para decir que no pagué por mis bebidas. ¡Qué vergüenza!
to pay - pagar
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I was angry with my sister, so I didn’t hug her
Estaba enojado con mi hermana; por eso no la abracé
to hug - abrazar. Note that abrazar like other -zar ending verbs, changes its stem from -z- to -c- in the first person preterite
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I already began cooking, are you very hungry?
Ya empecé a cocinar, ¿tienes mucha hambre?
to begin - empezar. Follows the same -z- to -c- base change pattern as abrazar in the first person
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This bread is too sweet because Carlos substituted half a cup of sugar for half a cup of salt
Este pan está demasiado dulce porque Carlos substituyó media taza de sal por media taza de azúcar
to substitute with - substituir por. Note that verbs like substituir, such as construir, change from -i- to -y- in the third person singular and plural (él, ellos).
Also note that the antecedents of the verb substituir por are in a different order than they would be in the English of “substitute for”. It’s as if por in Spanish would really have been the word “with” in English, not “for”.
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Eduardo fell and broke his leg
Eduardo se cayó y se rompió la pierna
to fall - caerse. Follows the same -i- to -y- base change pattern as substituir in the third person singular and plural
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Sir, you dropped something
Señor, se le cayó algo
to drop - caerse (a alguien). Note that Spanish doesn’t really have a verb “to drop” but uses caer (“to fall”) and makes it sound unintentional using the indirect agency sentence construction
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I like you (as a friend)
Tú me caes bien
Note that to express “liking” someone (as a friend) in Spanish, we say that someone “falls well” for another person. E.g. Le caigo bien - “He likes me” (“I fall well for him”)
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María does not like Julia
A María le cae mal Julia OR Julia le cae mal a María
to not like (as friend) - caerle mal. Note that we can use either of the two sentence orders. We can also say no le cae bien instead of le cae mal
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Lucia was not prepared for the test, and it didn’t go well for her
Lucia no estaba preparada para el exámen, y no le fue bien
prepared - preparado
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Marcos drove that truck for fifteen hours
Marcos condujo ese camión por quince horas
truck - el camión. Note that conducir, like other verbs ending in -ducir, has several irregularities in the preterite tense. Also note that many speakers use the word manejar to mean “to drive”
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Ana read in the newspaper that it was going to snow
Ana leyó en el periódico que iba a nevar
newspaper - el periódico
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Isn’t it so that you love this skirt? (i.e. Don’t you love…)
¿A qué no te encanta esta falda?
isn’t it so? - ¿a qué no?, ¿no es así?
