Spanish Preterite Verbs with Irregular Meanings

Overview

In a previous unit we talked about Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense in Spanish and today we will take things one step further from irregular verbs to irregular meanings.

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Spanish Preterit Verbs with Irregular Meanings

In our last lesson we talked about Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense in Spanish and today we will take things one step further from irregular verbs to irregular meanings. We have a number of verbs in Spanish that change meaning when they are used in the Preterit Tense versus the Imperfect Tense (lesson to come!). Let’s check them out…

Grammar deep dive: As we talk about these verbs and their meaning changes, remember that these changes are really about the perspective of the tense being used, not the actual definition of the verb changing.

Verb	Original Meaning	Preterit Tense Meaning
Conocer	To know	To meet
Estar	To be	To become
Poder	To be able to	To manage
Querer / No querer	To want / Not to want	To try / To refuse
Saber	To know	To find out (information)
Tener	To have	To receive

Let’s take a look at a few of these verbs in action:

CONOCER

Present: Yo conozco a Daniel. – I know Daniel.

Preterit: Yo conocí a Daniel. – I met Daniel.

QUERER

Present: Nosotros queremos un pastel con fresas. – We want a cake with strawberries.

Preterit: Nosotros quisimos un pastel con fresas. – We tried a cake with strawberries.

SABER

Present: Ella sabe que él es de Argentina. – She knows that he is from Argentina.

Preterit: Ella supo que él es de Argentina. – She found out that he is from Argentina.

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Additional Activities

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Let’s practice!

In part 1, choose the best answer. In part 2, provide the correct meaning of the verbs used. Once you are finished, be sure to click READ MORE to view the answer key!

PART 1

1. T/F: Some verbs change meaning in different tenses.

2. The verb ESTAR means was in the Preterit Tense.

3. To say you met someone, you use the verb conocer in the Preterit Tense.

PART 2

4. Ella conció a su esposo en 2010.

5. Yo tuve $5 ayer.

6. Nosotros no pudimos oír el mensaje en la tienda.

7. Los perros no quisieron el bistec.

8. ¿Cuándo supiste que no hay monstruos debajo de tu cama?

Answer key: 1. T, 2. F, 3. T, 4. Met, 5. Received, 6. Did not manage, 7. Refused, 8. Found out

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