Lesson 17 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 - substituir. Note that verbs like substituir, such as construir, change from -i- to -y- in the third person singular and plural (él, ellos)
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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?
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Did you already read this news story? Isn’t it ridiculous?
¿Ya leiste esta noticia? ¿A qué no es ridícula?
a news item - una noticia
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Did you already see the news? A man fell in front of a truck
¿Ya viste las noticias? Un hombre se cayó en frente de un camión
news - las noticias
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Look! It’s the journalist from my favorite newspaper
¡Mira! Es el periodista de mi periódico favorito
journalist - el periodista. Note that words ending in -ista are masculine unless referring specifically to a female (e.g. la periodista)
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It’s the rainy season in Mexico
Es la temporada de lluvia en México
season (event, crop) - temporada. Note that estación is usually used when talking about the four main seasons (fall, winter, summer, and spring), whereas temporada refers to a crop season or an event (rain season, snow season, baseball season, etc.)
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They produced a lot of tomatoes in this season
Ellos produjeron muchos tomates en esta temporada
to produce - producir. Follows the same irregular conjugation pattern as conducir
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My grandfather doesn’t produce tomatoes, but he produces onions
Mi abuelo no produce tomates, sino que produce cebollas
but, rather (when contradicting) - sino que. Note that sino is used when:
- when the part of the sentence before the conjunction is stated in the negative, and
- when the part after the conjunction directly contradicts what is negated in the first part
To put it mathematically, sino is used for “but” in sentences of type “not A but B”, where B contradicts A
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It is neither rain season nor snow season
No es ni temporada de lluvia ni temporada de nieve
neither…nor - ni…ni
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Either this journalist forgot the truth, or he lied
O a este periodista se le olvidó la verdad, _o _mintió
either…or - o…o
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Last night we introduced our classmate Victoria to our family
Anoche presentamos nuestra compañera Victoria a nuestra familia
classmate - el/la compañero(a)
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TO DRIVE (Preterite)
- I drove
- You drove
- He/She drove
- We drove
- You drove
- We drove
CONDUCIR (Tiempo Pretérito)
- Yo conduje
- Tú condujiste
- El/Ella/ Ud condujo
- Nosotros condujimos
- Vosotros condujisteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds condujeron
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I translated this article from Spanish into English for my class
Traduje este artículo del español al inglés para mi clase
article - el artículo. Note the irregular preterite form of traducir (“to translate”), conjugated like conducir (“to drive”)
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Maybe I write that article
Tal vez escribo ese artículo
maybe - tal vez, quizás
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Pancho preferred going out alone than with us
Pancho prefirió salir solo que con nosotros
to prefer - preferir. Follows the same -e- to -i- bas change pattern as pedir in the preterite
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Those men followed us from the car to the restaurant. We were very scared
Esos hombres nos siguieron desde el carro hasta el restaurante. Tuvimos mucho miedo
to follow - seguir.
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I (f.) felt very abandoned when you left
Me sentí muy abandonada cuando te fuiste
abandoned - abandonado
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TO ASK FOR (Preterite)
- I asked
- You asked
- He/She asked
- We asked
- You asked
- They asked
PEDIR (Tiempo Pretérito)
- Yo pedí
- Tú pediste
- El/Ella/Ud pidió
- Nosotros pedimos
- Vosotros pedisteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds pidieron
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Esteban slept in that bed, not in this one
Esteban durmió en esa cama, no en ésta
bed - la cama. Note that dormir undergoes a stem change from -o- to -u- in the third person singular and plural of the preterite
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Today was a sad day; many children died
Hoy fué un día triste; muchos niños murieron
to die - morir. Follows the same -o- to -u- base change pattern as dormir in the preterite tense
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TO SLEEP (Preterite)
- I slept
- You slept
- He/She slept
- We slept
- You slept
- They slept
DORMIR (Tiempo Pretérito)
- Yo dormí
- Tú dormiste
- El/Ella/Ud durmió
- Nosotros dormimos
- Vosotros dormisteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds durmieron
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I went to your office, but you weren’t there
Fui a tu oficina, pero no estabas allí
office - la oficina
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Did you buy the furniture for your new office yet?
¿Ya compraste los muebles para tu nueva oficina?
furniture - los muebles. Note that Spanish uses the plural muebles (literally, “pieces of furniture”) where English uses a singular noun to describe all furniture
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- Yo quería viajar
- Yo quise viajar
- Quería viajar means “I wanted to travel”
- Quise viajar means “I tried to travel” (but probably failed)
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We didn’t __bring your things; we forgot them
No __trajimos tus cosas; las olvidamos
to bring - traer. Note that verbs like traer undergo a base change from -ae- to -aj- in the preterite tense
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TO BRING (Preterite)
- I brought
- You brought
- He/She brought
- We brought
- You brought
- They brought
TRAER (Tiempo Pretérito)
- Yo traje
- Tú trajiste
- El/Ella/Ud trajo
- Nosotros trajimos
- Vosotros trajisteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds trajeron
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When I heard a loud noise, I called my parents
Cuando oí un ruido fuerte, llamé a mis padres
I heard - oí
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You didn’t hear about what Pamela did, right?
No oíste lo que hizo Pamela, ¿verdad?
you heard - oíste
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Maite is very embarassed because Roberto heard her talking about him
Maite está muy avergonzada porque Roberto la oyó hablando de él
he/she heard - oyó
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We didn’t hear when you called our names
No oímos cuando llamaste nuestros nombres
we heard - oímos
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Didn’t you (vosotros) hear the noise that was coming from that house?
¿No oísteis el ruido que venía de esa casa?
you (vosotros) heard - oísteis
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T__hey heard the phone ring
Oyeron sonar el teléfono
they heard - oyeron
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TO HEAR (Preterite)
- I heard
- You heard
- He/She heard
- We heard
- You heard
- They heard
OIR (Tiempo Pretérito)
- Yo oí
- Tú oíste
- El/Ella/Ud oyó
- Nosotros oímos
- Vosotros oísteis
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds oyeron
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What did he ask your secretary?
¿Qué le pidió a tu secretaria?
secretary - el/la secretario(a). Note that pedir undergoes an -e- to -i- stem change in the singular and plural 3rd person (él, ellos) of the preterite
