Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish (76 page)

PRESENT TENSE	PAST TENSE
EST O Y, I am	EST U VE, I was
ESTÁ, you are, he, she, it is	EST U VO, you were, he, she, it was
EST A MOS, we are	ESTUV I MOS, we were
ESTÁN, they, you (pl.) are	ESTUVI E RON, they, you (pl.) were

Remember that you use the verb “estar” to say “where” or “how” things or people are.

The verb “tener” (
to have
) is irregular.

TENER,
to have

Now let’s study the pattern of these irregular verbs.

EST U VE, I was	T U VE, I had
EST U VO, you were, he, she, it was	T U VO, you, he, she had

Notice that these verbs end in “e” in the first person and in “o” in the third man form. They have the same endings as regular “ar” verbs in the past tense, except that the final letter has no accent.

Below there is a list of regular “ar” verbs and a list of irregular verbs. Compare the endings of the regular verbs with those of the irregular verbs and you will see that they are alike, except for the fact that the irregular verbs have no accent on the final letter.

Do not try to memorize all these verbs. They will be presented in future lessons. They are used here only to show you that irregular verbs are not the devils they are generally thought to be. Their endings in the past are like the endings of “ar” verbs except that they have no accent.

PAST OF REGULAR “AR” VERBS	PAST OF IRREGULAR VERBS
trabajé	trabajó	est u ve		est u vo
( I worked )	( you worked )	( I was )	( you were )
compré	compró	t u ve	t u vo
( I bought )	( you bought )	( I had )	( you had )
hablé	habló	v i ne	v i no
( I talked )	( you talked )	( I came )	( you came )
tomé	tomó	d i je	d i jo
( I took )	( you took )	( I said )	( you said )
terminé	terminó	h i ce	h i zo
( I finished )	( you finished )	( I did )	( you did )
canté	cantó	tr a je	tr a jo
( I sang )	( you sang )	( I brought )	( you brought )
cambié	cambió	p u se	p u so