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Lesson 26 · Lección vigésima sexta - Lección veintiséis

The Preterite of Irregular Verbs, Deviating Verbs and Double Negation in Spanish

El cuento de papá

— Papá — dice Carmen — prometiste contarme algo. Hace tiempo que no me cuentas nada.

— Bien. Escucha pues:

“En la ciudad de Oviedo, donde yo vivía cuando era chico, hay un parque y en este parque paseaba a menudo un coronel, de apellido Toledano.

El coronel Toledano era un hombre de estatura gigantesca, enormes bigotes blancos y voz de trueno.

Este coronel nos infundía pavor a todos los chicos que jugábamos en el parque, sobre todo por la mirada de su ojo único. El coronel era tuerto y le apodamos Polifemo. text translation

El coronel Toledano tenía un hermoso perro, Muley. Cuando el coronel no nos veía regalábamos el perro con pan, bizcocho, queso que nuestras mamás nos daban para merendar.

Jugaba con nosotros algunas veces un hospiciano, llamado Andrés, que nada podía darle, porque nada tenía, y, sin embargo, Muley le prefería a todos. Por su parte Andresito concibió una verdadera pasión por este animal y una tarde llevó el perro al Hospicio y no volvió. Durmió con el perro y lo soltó por la mañana cuando abrieron las puertas del Hospicio. Varias noches durmió Andresito con el perro, hasta que ... text translation

Vocablos

el	cuento	story; tale
	prometer	to promise
	algo	something, anything
	pues	then; so; well
	a menudo	often
el	coronel	colonel
el	apellido	surname, last name
la	estatura	height, stature
	gigantesco, -a	gigantic, giant
	enorme, -a	enormous, huge
los	bigotes	mustache
la	voz	voice
el	trueno	thunder
	infundir	to instil(l), to inspire
el	pavor	terror, dread, fear
	jugar	to play
la	mirada	look, gaze, glance
	único, -a	only, unique
	tuerto, -a	one-eyed (person)
	apodar	to nickname
	hermoso, -a	beautiful, lovely
	regalar	to treat; to give (as a gift)
el	bizcocho	biscuit, sponge cake
el	queso	cheese
	merendar	to have an afternoon snack
	algunas veces	sometimes
el	hospiciano	orphan (living in an orphanage)
el	hospicio	orphanage
	llamar	to call; to name
	sin embargo	nevertheless; however
	preferir	to prefer
la	parte	part, side
	concebir	1) to conceive; to be born; 2) to understand; to comprehend
	verdadero, -a	sincere; true; real
la	pasión	passion
el	animal	animal
la	tarde	afternoon, evening
	llevar	to take (with oneself), to carry (away)
	volver	to return, to come back
	dormir	to sleep
	soltar	to let out, to let go, to release
	abrir (abrieron)	to open (opened)

Explanations

Meaning of words and expressions

In Spanish, a combination of a noun without an article with the preposition de is often used; into English, this combination is usually translated using an adjective or a similar construction, for example:

una voz de trueno

a voice of thunder / a booming voice

la mesa de noche

nightstand (lit.: night table)

Remember the expressions:

hace tiempo

a long time ago / for a long time

a menudo

often

sobre todo

especially

sin embargo

nevertheless / however

por su parte

for his/her part

una tarde

one afternoon (evening)

hasta que

until

Grammar

1. Individual conjugation of the verbs: estar, dar, ver, tener in the Past Simple tense

estar — to be, to be located			dar — to give
singular			singular
1.	estuve	I was, was located	di	I gave
2.	estuviste	you were, were located	diste	you gave
3.	estuvo	he was, was located	dio	he gave
plural			plural
1.	estuvimos	we were, were located	dimos	we gave
2.	estuvisteis	you were, were located	disteis	you gave
3.	estuvieron	they were, were located	dieron	they gave
(compare with lesson 8)			(compare with lesson 11)

ver — to see
singular			plural
1.	vi	I saw	vimos	we saw
2.	viste	you saw	visteis	you saw
3.	vio	he saw	vieron	they saw
tener — to have
singular			plural
1.	tuve	I had	tuvimos	we had
2.	tuviste	you had	tuvisteis	you had
3.	tuvo	he had	tuvieron	they had

2. Conjugation of deviating verbs of group I: preferir and concebir

preferir — to prefer		concebir — to conceive; to understand
Presente
prefiero	I prefer	concibo	I understand
prefieres	you prefer	concibes	you understand
prefiere	he prefers	concibe	he understands
preferimos	we prefer	concebimos	we understand
preferís	you prefer	concebís	you understand
prefieren	they prefer	conciben	they understand
Pretérito simple
preferí	I preferred	concebí	I understood
preferiste	you preferred	concebiste	you understood
prefirió	he preferred	concibió	he understood
preferimos	we preferred	concebimos	we understood
preferisteis	you preferred	concebisteis	you understood
prefirieron	they preferred	concibieron	they understood

In the other tenses of the indicative mood, the verbs preferir and concebir are conjugated without deviations.

3. Conjugation of deviating verbs of group II: jugar, volver, dormir

The verbs jugar, volver, dormir in the present tense (Presente) change their root vowel to the diphthong ue under stress (in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural).

But in the Past Simple tense (Pretérito simple), the changes are different:
— for the verbs of conjugations I and II (jugar, volver), the root vowel does NOT change (jugó, volvió). The verb jugar has an orthographic deviation -u- in the 1st person singular to preserve the [g] sound: yo jugué.
— for the verb of conjugation III dormir, the vowel o changes to u in the 3rd person singular and plural: durmió, durmieron.

Conjugation of the verbs: jugar, volver, dormir
in all known tenses

Presente Present tense
Conjugation I
jugar — to play
singular			plural
1.	juego	I play	jugamos	we play
2.	juegas	you play	jugáis	you play
3.	juega	he plays	juegan	they play
Conjugation II
volver — to return
singular			plural
1.	vuelvo	I return	volvemos	we return
2.	vuelves	you return	volvéis	you return
3.	vuelve	he returns	vuelven	they return
Conjugation III
dormir — to sleep
singular			plural
1.	duermo	I sleep	dormimos	we sleep
2.	duermes	you sleep	dormís	you sleep
3.	duerme	he sleeps	duermen	they sleep

Pretérito imperfecto
Past Imperfect

Conjugation I

1. jugaba I was playing
2. jugabas you were playing
etc.

Conjugation II

1. volvía I was returning
2. volvías you were returning
etc.

Conjugation III

1. dormía I was sleeping
2. dormías you were sleeping
etc.

Pretérito perfecto
Present Perfect

Conjugation I

jugar — to play

1. he jugado I have played
2. has jugado you have played
etc.

Conjugation II

volver — to return

1. he vuelto I have returned
2. has vuelto you have returned
etc.

Conjugation III

dormir — to sleep

1. he dormido I have slept
2. has dormido you have slept
etc.

Pretérito simple Past Simple
Conjugation I
singular			plural
1.	jugué	I played	jugamos	we played
2.	jugaste	you played	jugasteis	you played
3.	jugó	he played	jugaron	they played
Conjugation II
singular			plural
1.	volví	I returned	volvimos	we returned
2.	volviste	you returned	volvisteis	you returned
3.	volvió	he returned	volvieron	they returned
Conjugation III
singular			plural
1.	dormí	I slept	dormimos	we slept
2.	dormiste	you slept	dormisteis	you slept
3.	durmió	he slept	durmieron	they slept

Modo imperativo
Imperative mood

¡juega! play!
¡jugad! play!

¡vuelve! return!
¡volved! return!

¡duerme! sleep!
¡dormid! sleep!

4. Usage of the negation no in combination with another negation

no me cuentas nada

you tell me nothing / you don’t tell me anything

nada podía darle

he couldn't give him anything

In Spanish, if negative words like nobody, nothing, never, etc., are placed before the verb, then the negation no before the verb is not used.
For example: nada tengo I have nothing. If the negative words are placed after the verb, then the negation no is placed before the verb, for example: no tengo nada I have nothing / I don't have anything.

Exercises

I. Make the corresponding verb forms in the Past Simple tense:

regalar

infundir

Vd.

ellos

ella

nosotros

vosotros

tú

comer

soltar

Vd.

ellos

ella

nosotros

vosotros

tú

II. Make the corresponding forms of the verbs hablar and recorrer according to the given data:

hablar

present

past imperfect

tú

él

Vd.

nosotros

vosotros

ellos

Vds.

hablar

present perfect

past simple

tú

él

Vd.

nosotros

vosotros

ellos

Vds.

recorrer

present

past imperfect

Vds.

nosotros

ellas

vosotros

tú

Vd.

recorrer

present perfect

past simple

Vds.

nosotros

ellas

vosotros

tú

Vd.

III. Put the verbs in brackets into the corresponding form of the Past Simple tense:

El coronel (infundir) pavor a los chicos. El perro (comer) el pan. Los chicos (dar) bizcochos al perro. Nosotros (volver) a casa a las 8. Nada (comer) entonces. Por la mañana nosotros (tomar) el desayuno. Nosotros no (hablar) con él. ¿Cuándo (hablar) Vd. con Juan? ¿Dónde (beber) Vd. jerez?

IV. Translate into English:

El padre le compró a Carmen un perro grande y bonito. Carmen jugaba con él siempre en la calle, cerca de la casa. Un chico llevó el perro a su casa. Carmen buscó el perro todo el día y no comió nada. Por la tarde el perro volvió. Carmen estuvo muy contenta y comió toda la sopa. Cuando se despertó miró el perro y habló con él. Las amigas de Carmen llegaron por la tarde y dieron al animal muchos bizcochos.

V. Translate into Spanish. Use the verbs in the Past Simple tense:

— You have a beautiful dog. Where did you buy it? — I didn’t buy this dog, I found him on the street, and he stayed with me. — Where does he sleep? — Always at home, but yesterday Carmen took him with her and left him at our friends' house. The dog slept there and returned today.