More Irregular Preterit Verbs

Let's wrap up the irregular Preterit verbs in Spanish!

Please reference my previous blog postings on the regular and irregular Preterit verbs. This will help you refresh your memory and get you thinking of the Preterit tense.

Y-Stem Changing Verbs

The following verbs change the 'i' in the third person singular and plural forms before adding their Preterit endings:

-IR		-ER
Oír (to hear)	Reír (to laugh)	Leer (to read)	Creer (to believe)
Oí Oíste Oyó Oímos Oísteis Oyeron	Reí Reíste Reyó Reímos Reísteis Reyeron	Leí Leíste Leyó Leímos Leísteis Leyeron	Creí Creíste Creyó Creímos Creísteis Creyeron

Please Note: These Preterit endings will be the same for verbs that end with -uir such as concluir.

-CAR, -GAR, -ZAR Verbs

In the Preterit tense, these verbs will have a slight spelling change in the first person singular (Yo) form as follows:

-CAR	-GAR	-ZAR
Tocar (to touch/to play an instrument)	Jugar (to play (as in a sport or game))	Almorzar (to have lunch)
Toqué	Jugué	Almorcé
Tocaste Tocó Tocamos Tocasteis Tocaron	Jugaste Jugó Jugamos Jugasteis Jugaron	Almorzaste Almorzó Almorzamos Almorzasteis Almorzaron

Other verbs that change in the Yo form are: explicar, sacar, buscar, llegar, apagar, colgar, entregar, negar, pagar, alcanzar, comenzar, and empezar.

Finally, do you remember the verb haber (to have)? Please review this verb at the end of my blog here. In the Preterit tense, to say "there was/there were" you would say hubo.

As I say in all of my grammar-related blog postings, go out and practice these verbs. Say them out loud to pets, friends, and family members. Write them out. Use flashcards (either electronically or index cards) to test your memory. The more you take action and use them, the better, the faster, and the more fun you will have conversing in the past tense.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith

~Next Friday, June 7, 2013~

Summer Series: Keith's Ten Ways to Spanish Fluency!

Follow Keith this summer and don't miss his top ten ways to improve your Spanish.

Keith's 10 Ways to Spanish Fluency can be found in So You Want to Learn Spanish? by Keith Walters

Own the book today and follow along as Keith provides valuable  insights, tips, resources and methods to master the beautiful language of Spanish!

Preterit Irregularities

Recently, I introduced one of two past tenses in Spanish -- the Preterit. We covered all of the regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. Now it's time to cover some of the irregular verbs in the Preterit. There are quite a few irregular verbs. Because of this, I will stretch this out over a couple of blog posts. I recommend reviewing the regular verbs first here.

Let's go over the most drastic irregular verbs first: dar, ver, ir, and ser. I say drastic because outside of the letter 'd' in the verb dar and the letter 'v' in the verb ver, the entire verb changes. Decades ago, there used to be accent marks over the letter 'i' in the Yo (I) form and over the letter 'o' in the third person form. Today Spanish has evolved in removing those markings. I mention this as you still may see some older text with the accent marks. They are still the Preterit forms; they just look slightly different.

-AR		-ER	-IR
Dar (to give)	Ver (to see)	Ser (to be)	Ir (to go)
Di Diste Dio Dimos Disteis Dieron	Vi Viste Vio Vimos Visteis Vieron	Fui Fuiste Fue Fuimos Fuisteis Fueron	Fui Fuiste Fue Fuimos Fuisteis Fueron

Notice that both ser and ir use identical forms; however their context (in how they are used) will make the meanings very clear.

Verbs that were stem-changing in the Present tense such as pensar, volver, conocer, and salir DO NOT change their stems in the Preterit tense. Simply place the corresponding -ar, -er or -ir endings onto the stems (pens-, volv-, conoc-, and sal-) using this chart:

-AR	-ER	-IR
-é -aste -ó -amos -asteis -aron	-í -iste -ió -imos -isteis -ieron	-í -iste -ió -imos -isteis -ieron

I-stem changing verbs

The following verbs change their stem to an 'i' with some slight spelling changes before adding their Preterit endings:

-ER		-IR
Hacer (to do or make)	Querer (to want or love)	Decir (to say)	Venir (to come)
Hice Hiciste Hizo Hicimos Hicisteis Hicieron	Quise Quisiste Quiso Quisimos Quisisteis Quisieron	Dije Dijiste Dijo Dijimos Dijisteis Dijeron	Vine Viniste Vino Vinimos Vinisteis Vinieron

U-stem changing verbs

The following verbs change their stem to a 'u' with some slight spelling changes before adding their Preterit endings:

-AR	-ER
Estar (to be)	Poder (to be able/can)	Poner (to put)	Saber (to know (as in a fact))	Tener (to have)
Estuve Estuviste Estuvo Estuvimos Estuvisteis Estuvieron	Pude Pudiste Pudo Pudimos Pudisteis Pudieron	Puse Pusiste Puso Pusimos Pusisteis Pusieron	Supe Supiste Supo Supimos Supisteis Supieron	Tuve Tuviste Tuvo Tuvimos Tuvisteis Tuvieron

I think this is good for now. I'll have a little more irregular verbs in the Preterit tense for you later on. Until then, please practice these verbs. Listen carefully to how I pronounce them. Practice them to yourself, to a friend or family member, or to a pet. Go online and try to Skype someone and practice. Use flashcards or flashcard apps to drill the conjugations and spellings of them. You will need to be actively practicing these verbs. Mix in the regular Preterit verbs to maintain your memory on them too. You can do it!

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith

Actions of the Past

It is time to start venturing into the past. Unlike English, Spanish has two types of past tenses. The Preterit focuses on events or actions that happened and completed in the past. The Imperfect tense deals more with describing things in the past whether it be feelings, events, or reactions. I'll cover more on the specific differences between these two past tenses in a later blog. For now, let's go over the Preterit tense (el pretérito).

There are regular and irregular verbs in the Preterit tense. For today's blog, I will go through the regular verbs. I'm going to start out with -ar verbs. Here is a chart that goes over the conjugation of an -ar verb. Keep in mind that there are accent marks on the Yo (I) and the third person singular forms. This means you must place the emphasis on the last syllable of the word when you say it. I have placed the endings in bold to highlight where the conjugation occurs.

-AR

Caminar (to walk)

Caminé

Caminaste

Caminó

Caminamos

Caminasteis

Caminaron

Listen to me pronounce the verb caminar in the various forms of the Preterit tense:

Verbs ending in -er and in -ir use the exact same formations in the Preterit tense. Just like the -ar verbs, the Yo (I) and the third person singular forms will have an accent mark where you will emphasize the last syllable of the word when speaking it. I have placed the endings in bold to show you where the change takes place.

-ER	-IR
Beber (to drink)	Vivir (to live)
Bebí	Viví
Bebiste	Viviste
Bebió	Vivió
Bebimos	Vivimos
Bebisteis	Vivisteis
Bebieron	Vivieron

Listen to me pronounce the verbs beber and vivir in the various forms of the Preterit tense:

Now, practice, practice, and practice some more! Get comfortable using this tense. Talk to yourself, talk to your pets, try speaking to a family member. You can join an online hangout group or skype someone to practice. Do whatever it takes to start using the Preterit tense. The more you use it, the easier it will become to recall it from memory and have it feel like second hand. You can use flashcards or flashcard apps to test your memory. There are lots of ways to master this tense. Look to future posts on the irregular forms of the Preterit. Until then . . .

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith

Telenovela = or ≠ Soap Opera

The cultural telenovela transcends television in Latin American countries. It's a basic word. You can place the definite article la (the) and the indefinite article una (a) before the noun.

Many people equate telenovelas to soap operas in the United States. But is that really a correct correlation? Let's take a further look.

Telenovela comprises of the prefix tele- followed by -novela. The prefix is also used in our English word television. The last part, novela, means novel. I don't know about you, but I haven't read any novels that go on and on for years -- just look at "The Guiding Light"! They were on the air for 72 years. That would be quite a long time for a novel, much less a television novel. Perhaps one could equate that to reading "War and Peace"?

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some similarities. Television novels have a lot of drama just like the United States soap opera. There can be a lot of action, a lot of drama, multiple story lines with very interesting characters. There are fan favorite characters and not so favorite ones.

Soap operas usually have a continuous story line that works its way through for a longer period of time -- one season. It intermingles various story lines from other characters weaving them like a delicate fabric through the story arc. Another interesting aspect is that each story line does not necessarily get the focus on every episode.

The major difference between the two forms is concurrency. With telenovelas, it runs until a definite or finite ending of the series. When the writer has told all it needs to and it ends, that's it. It's all over. They may come out with a sequel if the series was really popular, but it will still have a set amount of time before that ends too.

Now that you know the difference between a telenovela and a soap opera, I have to say that it is a wonderful way to help learn and comprehend Spanish! You not only have good characters, good plot and story lines, good action, but you can really get to know situations, identify vocabulary, build your understanding of Spanish. Besides satellite and cable channels dedicated to the Spanish-speaking population, you can watch telenovelas online. Of course you can do it through subscription services, but don't forget YouTube. YouTube can offer quite a bit in terms of full episodes of telenovelas. One of my favorites is called "Mirada de Mujer". It's no longer on the air as you know about telenovelas, but you can watch full episodes on YouTube here.

Be on the look out for other ones. Try Google searches for popular ones. There are tons to find out there on the Internet.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith

The History of Cinco de Mayo

Mexicanos and Americans alike love to celebrate Cinco de Mayo every year. But how many of us really know why it is celebrated? What is so important about the 5th of May? What is its connection with Mexico?

Americans know this holiday to be one of celebrating diversity -- of the Mexican variety. Anything and everything Mexican, Hispanic or Latin American pops up as a decoration. There are plenty of mariachi bands playing, Tequila, Coronas or Dos Equis (XXs) flowing, and tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, tacos and burritos being ordered, and of course, piñatas being broken. That pretty much sums up what Americans know about this holiday. ¡Que triste! (How sad!)

I think with the passing of time and lack of understanding, most Americans view the holiday as some sort of national independence day for Mexico. All I can say is, well, quizás (perhaps) -- in some long-stretch of the word?

The year, 1861, wasn't an "okay" year for Mexico. Then President Benito Juárez had to default on many debts to European countries such as Spain, Britain and France. Spain and Britain made a new deal with Mexico, but France jumped on the opportunity to expand. Why not? France at the time was ruled by Napoleon III. And you all know those "Napoleon" types. By the end of the year, the French forces landed in Veracruz, Mexico to take over the country. Juárez and the government retreated.

The French had 6,000 troops heading to a small town named Puebla de los Angeles which is located in the central-eastern part of Mexico. Juárez, from his brand new headquarters, got around 2,000 men and marched them into Puebla. They now occupied the small town.

The loyal group of 2,000 Mexicans fought hard and gallantly for their country. They were outnumbered. They were out-gunned. They had every disadvantage as any military operation could have. But on May 5, 1862, that all changed.

The French forces came from the northern part of the town with heavy artillery and lots of provisions. They hit hard from daybreak to early evening. The French had lost 500 of their men to only 100 of the make-shift Mexican army. After realizing such a shocking blow, the French fell back.

This one symbolic fight reached many corners of Mexico. It fostered bands of resistance against the French which proved to be too much. After six long years of French occupation and some aid from the United States, Mexico finally did push back the French where they sailed back to their homeland.

Puebla primarily celebrates Cinco de Mayo in Mexico with military parades, folk dancing and parties. It is not a national holiday by any means. To many Mexicans, it is just a day like any other day.

In the late 60s, Chicano activists incorporated the holiday as a symbol of their fight over the European-like oppressors in the United States. Over the years, many Americans spend the day or the weekend closest to it celebrating all things Mexican -- the people, the culture, the food and drinks. It is a time of diversity and fun. For Mexican-Americans, it is a day of pride knowing that as a nation, we all stand together in love and harmony. ¡Viva México! ¡Viva Cinco de Mayo!

Practice your listening skills: Click here to view a YouTube video (in Spanish) that explains the history surrounding Cinco de Mayo. It's okay if you do not understand all of the spoken words. Use the pictures and body language to help you figure out what is being said. Listen over and over to pick up on more spoken Spanish.

¡Hasta luego!
~Keith