Spanish Preterit 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.

July 13, 2023

Stephen Sovenyhazy

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.

Highlighted Author:

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Stephen is the President of CORE Languages having founded the company in 2007. His focus is on empowering those with a need for community, culture and communication. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. A quote from Stephen. "When I started teaching, I sought to bring that same energy, dedication, and sense of purpose into my own classrooms. I founded CORE Languages to expand that vision, seeing the growing need for language training options designed to meet the unique needs of business environments. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. It’s a privilege to do what we do and share what we love with you.”

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The Simple Future (Futuro simple), is used to describe actions that will happen in the future, without indicating a specific point in time.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

The CEFR is an international standard used to describe language ability. Here are specific details of the CEFR for this topic.

General Explanation:

Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

Specific Capabilities at this Level

Writing:

I can write a short, simple postcard, for example sending holiday greetings. I can fill in forms with personal details, for example entering my name, nationality and address on a hotel registration form.

Spoken Production:

I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe where I live and people I know.

Spoken Interaction:

I can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help me formulate what I’m trying to say. I can ask and answer simple questions in areas of immediate need or on very familiar topics.

Reading:

I can understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on notices and posters or in catalogues.

Listening:

I can recognize familiar words and very basic phrases concerning myself, my family and immediate concrete surroundings when people speak slowly and clearly.