Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish (101 page)

In two of the eighteen verbs the letter “i” changes to “y” when it appears between vowels.

14. oír, to hear	oí	oyó	oímos	oyeron
15. caer, to fall	caí	cayó	caímos	cayeron

Although “
dar” (
to give
) is an “ar” verb it has “er” endings in the
past tense.

16. dar, to give

dí

dió

dimos

dieron

You already know the past of “ir.” And if you know the past of “ir,” you know the past of “ser” because they are absolutely identical.

17. ir, to go	fuí	fué	fuimos	fueron
18. ser, to be	fuí	fué	fuimos	fueron

I
MPERFECT
T
ENSE OF
S
ABER AND
Q
UERER

When you wish to say “I wanted” in Spanish you generally use the imperfect tense, “quería.” The imperfect is a past tense that you will learn later on.

I
MPERFECT

QUERER,
to want, to love

Notice that there is no differenuce between the first person and the third man form in the singular. The entire singular is “quería,” which means:
I wanted, you wanted, he wanted, she wanted, it wanted
.

When you wish to say, “I knew” in Spanish you use the imperfect tense “sabía.”

I
MPERFECT

SABER,
to know

Notice that there is no difference between the first person and the third man form in the singular. “Sabía” means:
I knew, you knew, he knew, she knew
.

P
RESENT
T
ENSE OF
N
ONCONFORMIST
V
ERBS

GROUP I

Of the eighteen members, nine end in “go” in the first person singular of the present.