“Mnemonics” en
español
Clues for remembering the
irregular preterite stems.
Las clases de Español II Honores
Del Señor Blease
2003
IR – to go
fui
 fuiste
 fue
 fuimos
 fuisteis
 fueron

I go to Fui, the Chinese restaurant.
Ir- to go
stem-fu
My friends and I
went to the “fu”
fighters concert
last night.
The baby went fu the tunnel.
The man was found innocent of
murder and was allowed to go fui.
SER – to be






fui
fuiste
fue
fuimos
fuisteis
fueron
Ser/Ir
 Life stinks to be a fui
on a dog.
Ser- to be
 To be or not to fui.
(that is the question)
Ser – to be
 The fud was
green.
DAR – to give
di
 diste
 dio
 dimos
 disteis
 dieron

D
gave her cat away.
Dar – to give
I
gave the di
to my friend
Joe.
He gave her a Diamond
Dar – to give
“Di”
The teacher
didn’t give me a
di!

I’ll give you di money.
ANDAR – to walk
stem – anduv-
Andar-to walk
• I walked part of the
way anduv the rest of
the way.
ANDAR
The dog walked up
ANDUVer the
obstacle.
ANDAR
I’ve been running
anduv been
walking.
DECIR – to say, to tell
stem – dij-
Decir
The dije told everyone to dance.
We told the dije to play a song.
Dij you tell him the secret?
DijDecir- to say
I told her I broke the dij.
Decir-to tell/say
Dij - Dijon
He told me about the honey dijon
mustard.
Decir
I said, “Do you have any DIJon
mustard?”
ESTAR – to be
stem – estuv-
Estar – to be
 The
estuv was hot.
EstuvEstar- to be
I was cooking on estuv.
Estar
I was in the estuve playing hide-andgo-seek.
To be cool you need to cook
on ESTUV.
HACER – to do, to make
stem – hic-
Hacer - to make
We made hice
using a tray,
water, and the
cold weather.
The hic was good at
making “coon soup”.
Hacer – to make
“Hiz”
I made hiz lunch.
Hacer – to do/make
I
did this
project and it
was not hicy.
Hacer
HICEd to make it.
PODER – to be able to (can)
stem – pud-
Poder: to be able to stem-pud
• The baby was able to
eat “pud”ding
Poder-to be able
Pud - Pudding
I was able to have pudding after
my surgery.
He could have stepped in the
PUDdle.
Poder – to be able to
• I could trim the
pudle.
PONER – to put
stem – pus-
Mrs. Armstrong put the pus on
the cutting table.
Poner-to put
• My puso cat
put on her
helmet by
herself.
Poner
The Indian woman put her baby in the papus.
QUERER – to want
stem – quis-
The boy wanted the
quis.
Querer – to want
“Quis”
I want a quis!
Querer
I want some QUISO dip
with my chips.
Querer-to want
Quis - Quiche
I wanted some quis for an
appetizer.
I love MarQUIS.
SABER – to know
stem – sup-
We wanted to know what was in
the sup.
Saber-to know
Sup - Supper
I knew that we were having
steak, peas, and potatoes for
supper.
saber: to know
stem-sup

The athlete knew not
to take any “sup”
plements.
Saber – to know facts
I
knew the floor was supe, because
my dad spilled the soap.
SupI knew you were SUPer.
SUPerman knew that his weakness
was kryptonite.
What’s
sup?
Who
wants to
know?!
Saber-to know
Who knew ‘sup with
that wave, dude?!
TENER – to have
stem – tuv-
I have a tuv of toothpaste.
I had a tuv, but someone popped it.
We had two TUVas in the marching
band.
TuvTener- to have
I have a tuv ache.
TRADUCIR – to translate
stem – traduj(All verbs ending in -cir work the
same way – conducir, producir)
Traducir- to translate
Will you tra duj translate the Spanish for me?
TRADUCIR – to translate
The teacher translated the traduje.
TRAER – to bring
stem – traj-
Traer- to bring (stem – traj-)
• I am going traj to
bring pie to the party.
I brought the traje of fruit.
tray
Traer
• The waiter brings the
traje.
TRAER
I brought a traje.
VENIR – to come
stem – vin-
Venir- to come

George of the jungle
came swinging on a vine
to save me.
Venir
VIN did you come home?
I came vin I saw blood.
FIN