Strong Preterite Stems: u, i, and j
Practice the irregular preterite stems and the shared unstressed ending set for verbs like tener, hacer, and decir.
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Questions Covered in This Set
10 cards to master
What are the six endings shared by ALL strong preterite verbs?
-e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron — with no written accents anywhere.
Why are these called 'strong' preterites?
The stress falls on the stem, not the ending (tuve vs. hablé), so the stem is 'strong' enough to hold the accent.
Give the u-stems for tener, estar, andar, and poder.
tuv-, estuv-, anduv-, pud-
Give the u-stems for poner, saber, caber, and haber.
pus-, sup-, cup-, hub- (usually only hubo = 'there was/were')
What are the three i-stems?
querer → quis-, venir → vin-, hacer → hic-
Why is it 'hizo' and not 'hico'?
Spanish spells that sound with z before o, so hic- + -o becomes hizo — a spelling rule, not a new irregularity.
What special rule applies to j-stems in the ellos form?
The i drops from the ending: -eron, not -ieron (dijeron, trajeron, condujeron).
How do supe, pude, no pude, quise, and no quise shift in meaning?
supe = I found out; pude = I managed to; no pude = I failed to; quise = I tried to; no quise = I refused.
Conjugate the compounds: detener, componer, deshacer, contradecir (yo).
detuve, compuse, deshice, contradije — compounds follow the base verb exactly.
How does the strong preterite feed the imperfect subjunctive?
Drop -ron from the ellos form: tuvieron → tuvie- → tuviera/tuviese; dijeron → dijera/dijese.
