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Before o (in the first person singular of the indicative present tense) and a (that is, in all persons of the present subjunctive), the so-called G-verbs (sometimes "Go-Yo verbs", "Yo-Go" verbs, or simply "Go" verbs) add a medial -g-after l and n (also after s in asir), add -ig-when the root ends in a vowel, or substitute -c-for -g-.
The 16 "regular" forms (tenses) include 8 simple tenses and 8 compound tenses. The compound tenses are formed with the auxiliary verb haber plus the past participle . Verbs can be used in other forms, such as the present progressive, but in grammar treatises they are not usually considered a part of the paradigm but rather periphrastic verbal ...
For other irregular verbs and their common patterns, see the article on Spanish irregular verbs. The tables include only the "simple" tenses (that is, those formed with a single word), and not the "compound" tenses (those formed with an auxiliary verb plus a non-finite form of the main verb), such as the progressive, perfect, and passive voice.
The preterite or preterit (/ ˈ p r ɛ t ər ɪ t / PRET-ər-it; abbreviated PRET or PRT) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple past tense.
In -er verbs (and some -ir verbs, like disminuir) whose stem ends with a vowel, the i of the -iendo ending is replaced by y: e.g. leer, traer, creer → leyendo, trayendo, creyendo. In -ir verbs whose stem ends with e —such as reír and sonreír —the stem vowel e is raised to i (as is typical of -ir verbs), and this i merges with the i of ...
The preterite and past participle forms of irregular verbs follow certain patterns. These include ending in -t (e.g. build , bend , send ), stem changes (whether it is a vowel, such as in sit , win or hold , or a consonant, such as in teach and seek , that changes), or adding the [ n ] suffix to the past participle form (e.g. drive , show , rise ).
Regarding tense agreement, if the main clause uses the imperfect, preterite, or past perfect indicative, either the imperfect or past perfect subjunctive is used. However, if the event of the subordinate clause is timelessly true, the present subjunctive is optional: " Dios decretó que las serpientes no tengan patas " ("God decreed that snakes ...
This is the case with certain strong verbs, where historical sound changes have led to a leveling of the vowel modifications: for example, let has both past tense and past participle identical to the infinitive, while come has the past participle identical (but a different past tense, came). The same is true of the verbs listed above under ...