Spanish Preterite Verbs Dar, Ver, Ir & Ser

With short verbs like dar and ver, the only irregularity in the preterite is one that you’ll find easy to accomplish: just forget to put the accent marks in! Because the words are so short, the stress falls naturally on the right syllable.

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Dar - to give

Yo di

I gave

Tú diste

You gave

Usted dio

You (polite) gave

Él dio

He gave

Ella dio

She gave

Nosotros dimos

We (masc.) gave

Nosotras dimos

We (fem.) gave

Vosotros disteis

You (pl. masc.) gave

Vosotras disteis

You (pl. fem.) gave

Ustedes dieron

You (plural) gave

Ellos dieron

They (masc.) gave

Ellas dieron

They (fem.) gave

Ver - to see

Yo vi

You saw

Tú viste

You saw

Usted vio

You (polite) saw

Él vio

He saw

Ella vio

She saw

Nosotros vimos

We (masc.) saw

Nosotras vimos

We (fem.) saw

Vosotros visteis

You (pl. masc.) saw

Vosotras visteis

You (pl. fem.) saw

Ustedes vieron

You (plural) saw

Ellos vieron

They (masc.) saw

Ellas vieron

They (fem.) saw

Por ejemplo (for example):

Yo no le di la plata a él.

I didn't give him the money.

Usted le dio la manzana a la chica.

You gave the apple to the girl.

Nosotros le dimos cincuenta pesos al conductor.

We gave the driver fifty pesos.

Identical Twins: IR and SER

One of the strangest things to happen to Spanish verbs is to take on the exact same irregular preterite form, and this happens with the very common verbs ir and ser. Who knows why these two verbs evolved over the course of time to have the same preterite past tense form, but they do make life complicated if you’re unfamiliar with them.

Study the charts below:

IR - to go

Yo fui

I went

Tú fuiste

You (sing/inf) went

Usted fue

You (sing/f) went

Él fue

He went

Ella fue

She went

Nosotros fuimos

We (masc) went

Nosotras fuimos

We (fem) went

Vosotros fuisteis

You (pl/masc/Spain) went

Vosotras fuisteis

You (pl/fem/Spain) went

Ustedes fueron

You (pl/masc/Spain) went

Ellos fueron

They (masc) went

Ellas fueron

They (fem) went

SER - to be

Yo fui

I was

Tú fuiste

You (sing/inf) were

Usted fue

You (sing/f) were

Él fue

He were

Ella fue

She were

Nosotros fuimos

We (masc) were

Nosotras fuimos

We (fem) were

Vosotros fuisteis

You (pl/masc/Spain) were

Vosotras fuisteis

You (pl/fem/Spain) were

Ustedes fueron

You (pl/masc/Spain) were

Ellos fueron

They (masc) were

Ellas fueron

They (fem) were

Going or Being? The Problem with FUI

Now that you’ve memorized the verb forms for ir and ser, you may be wondering how in the world you will ever know whether a sentence with the word fui means “I went_” or “_I was.”

Quite simply, by context! You’ll have to figure out which verb is meant by the rest of the words in the sentence. It’s not as hard as it sounds. See if you can guess the meaning of the verbs in the examples below:

1. Nosotros fuimos a la piscina la semana pasada.

2. Ayer fue un día muy aburrido.

3. Tú fuiste la persona que me robó.

Answers:

1. We went to the pool last week.

ir

2. Yesterday was a very boring day.

ser

3. You were the person who robbed me.

ser

Want to learn more about Spanish Tenses? Take a look at these lessons:

See you soon! ¡Hasta pronto!

Mauricio Evlampieff: Rocket Spanish

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