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A2
Lesson 4. Three irregular verbs in the preterite (pretérito indefinido): hice, di, vi
I can say what I did, what I gave, and what I saw — hice, di, vi — and not confuse hablo with habló.
Three irregular verbs: hice, di, vi
hacer, dar, and ver in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)
These are the three most frequent verbs in stories about the past. The time expressions are the same: ayer, anteayer, anoche, el fin de semana pasado.
The forms are in the first table. None of them has an accent mark: hice, di, vi, dio, vio.
The form hizo is spelled with z: before o, the /θ/ sound is written z, not c. NOT “hico”.
Stress changes both the person and the tense — that's the second table. Hablo means “I speak (now)”, habló means “he spoke (yesterday)”. To the ear they are different words: HA-blo and ha-BLÓ. The same goes for trabajo and trabajó, compro and compró.
These verbs live in set phrases: hacer un viaje, hacer la maleta, hacer deporte, hacer la compra, dar un paseo. English “take a trip” and “take a walk” are hacer un viaje and dar un paseo, never tomar.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Yo hací la maleta” — correct: hice.
• NOT “Ella hico un viaje” — correct: hizo.
• NOT “Yo ví la película” — correct: vi.
• NOT “Ellos dioron un paseo” — correct: dieron.
• NOT “Yo dí un paseo” — correct: di.
• NOT “Tomamos un paseo” — correct: Dimos un paseo.
hacer, dar, and ver in the past
None of the forms has an accent mark. In hizo, the /θ/ sound before o is spelled with z.
| Person | hacer | dar · ver |
|---|---|---|
| yo | hice | di · vi |
| tú | hiciste | diste · viste |
| él · ella · usted | hizo | dio · vio |
| nosotros · nosotras | hicimos | dimos · vimos |
| vosotros · vosotras | hicisteis | disteis · visteis |
| ellos · ellas · ustedes | hicieron | dieron · vieron |
Stress changes both the person and the tense
In writing, only the accent mark shows the difference; in speech, the stressed syllable does.
| Now, I | Yesterday, he | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| hablo | habló | HA-blo — ha-BLÓ |
| trabajo | trabajó | tra-BA-jo — tra-ba-JÓ |
| compro | compró | COM-pro — com-PRÓ |
Lesson notes
hacer, dar, and ver in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)
These are the three most frequent verbs in stories about the past. The time expressions are the same: ayer, anteayer, anoche, el fin de semana pasado.
The forms are in the first table. None of them has an accent mark: hice, di, vi, dio, vio.
The form hizo is spelled with z: before o, the /θ/ sound is written z, not c. NOT “hico”.
Stress changes both the person and the tense — that's the second table. Hablo means “I speak (now)”, habló means “he spoke (yesterday)”. To the ear they are different words: HA-blo and ha-BLÓ. The same goes for trabajo and trabajó, compro and compró.
These verbs live in set phrases: hacer un viaje, hacer la maleta, hacer deporte, hacer la compra, dar un paseo. English “take a trip” and “take a walk” are hacer un viaje and dar un paseo, never tomar.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “Yo hací la maleta” — correct: hice.
• NOT “Ella hico un viaje” — correct: hizo.
• NOT “Yo ví la película” — correct: vi.
• NOT “Ellos dioron un paseo” — correct: dieron.
• NOT “Yo dí un paseo” — correct: di.
• NOT “Tomamos un paseo” — correct: Dimos un paseo.