Irregular pretérito forms

What you will practice

• Use fiz, disse, trouxe, and pude for eu.
• Keep each form with the verb it belongs to.
• Avoid spellings that belong to a different verb.

Explanation

fazer and dizer

fazer in the eu pretérito is fiz. Ontem fiz o trabalho means I did the work. dizer is disse: Eu disse a verdade. These two do not share a shape with the regular -ei ending. fazí and dizi are not Portuguese forms. The ele form of fazer is fez, and this lesson’s blank asks only for eu.

trazer and poder

trazer is trouxe: Eu trouxe o livro. poder is pude: Ontem pude estudar. pude is the past. The present is posso. Do not write puedi or trazi. Each of these four verbs has to be learned as a pair: the infinitive and the eu pretérito.

Why some verbs are absent

Two lookalikes are left out on purpose. fui is the pretérito of both ir and ser, so a blank would not say which verb you meant. vimos is the present of vir and also a pretérito of ver. This lesson does not ask for either spelling. If you need those verbs, use a full sentence in class, not a one-word gap.

Examples

1. Ontem fiz o trabalho.fazer
2. Eu disse a verdade.dizer
3. Eu trouxe o livro.trazer
4. Ontem pude estudar.poder
5. Ela fez o trabalho.ele of fazer

Common mistakes

• fiz is only fazer. It is not the past of ser or ir.
• Do not fill a gap with fui or vimos in this lesson. Those spellings are ambiguous.