what is it?
A group of common verbs forms the preterite on an irregular stem instead of the normal one, and then adds a single fixed set of endings. Verbs like poder, poner, decir and venir change their stem completely in the past (pude, puse, dije, vine). These are called strong preterites because the endings are unstressed: the stress falls on the stem, not on the ending.
when to use it
To talk about a finished action in the past, like any other preterite: No pude dormir anoche.
With the verbs that take an irregular past stem. The core list is poder, poner, saber, caber, andar, querer, venir, decir, traer, conducir.
With compounds of these verbs, which keep the same irregular stem: mantener → mantuve, proponer → propuso.
formation
Take the irregular stem and add these endings: -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron. Note the yo and él/ella forms end in unstressed -e and -o, with no written accent.
| infinitive | stem | yo | él/ella |
|---|---|---|---|
| poder | pud- | pude | pudo |
| poner | pus- | puse | puso |
| saber | sup- | supe | supo |
| caber | cup- | cupe | cupo |
| andar | anduv- | anduve | anduvo |
| querer | quis- | quise | quiso |
| venir | vin- | vine | vino |
| decir | dij- | dije | dijo |
| traer | traj- | traje | trajo |
| conducir | conduj- | conduje | condujo |
The full set of endings on one verb:
| person | poder | venir | decir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | pude | vine | dije |
| tú | pudiste | viniste | dijiste |
| él/ella | pudo | vino | dijo |
| nosotros | pudimos | vinimos | dijimos |
| vosotros | pudisteis | vinisteis | dijisteis |
| ellos/ellas | pudieron | vinieron | dijeron |
Verbs whose stem ends in -j (decir, traer, conducir) drop the i in the ellos form: dijeron, trajeron, condujeron — not dijieron.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Regularizing the strong stem. These verbs do not use the normal stem: say pude, puso, vine — not podí, ponió, vení.
Adding -ieron to a j-stem. After -j the ending is -eron: dijeron, trajeron — not dijieron, trajieron.
Stressing and accenting the yo and él forms. The endings are unstressed and have no accent: pude, vino — not pudé, vinó.
Regularizing andar or a compound. andar is strong (anduve), and compounds keep the parent stem: mantuve, propuso — not andé, mantení, proponió.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Cuando llegué al aeropuerto, yo me ___ en la cola equivocada y tuve que empezar de nuevo. (poner)
Fill in the blank with the correct preterite form of the verb in parentheses.