Spanish Preterit Verbs with Irregular Meanings

Discover several Spanish verbs that have different meanings when used in the present tense vs the past tense. 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.

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.