Pretérito perfeito irregular (verbos frequentes)
Pretérito perfeito irregular (verbos frequentes) means “The past-tense (pretérito perfeito) forms of the most common irregular verbs, which you must memorize”. The most common verbs form the simple past irregularly, and these are exactly the ones you use every day, so learn them by heart. Formation: ser/ir: fui, foi · ter: tive, teve · estar: estive, esteve · fazer: fiz, fez · dizer: disse, disse · trazer: trouxe, trouxe · pôr: pus, pôs · poder: pude, pôde · querer: quis, quis · saber: soube, soube · vir: vim, veio · dar: dei, deu · ver: vi, viu · haver: houve
The past-tense (pretérito perfeito) forms of the most common irregular verbs, which you must memorize
B1Formation
ser/ir: fui, foi · ter: tive, teve · estar: estive, esteve · fazer: fiz, fez · dizer: disse, disse · trazer: trouxe, trouxe · pôr: pus, pôs · poder: pude, pôde · querer: quis, quis · saber: soube, soube · vir: vim, veio · dar: dei, deu · ver: vi, viu · haver: houve
Explanation
The most common verbs form the simple past irregularly, and these are exactly the ones you use every day, so learn them by heart. Note that ser and ir share the same forms: fui, foi work for both 'I was/went' and 'he was/went' — context tells them apart. A large group are the 'strong preterites' (fiz/fez, quis/quis, pus/pôs, tive/teve, soube/soube, trouxe/trouxe), whose stress falls on the STEM rather than the ending, unlike regular verbs (compare regular falei with strong fiz). If you know Spanish this transfers strongly: Spanish has the parallel pretéritos fuertes (hice/hizo, tuve/tuvo, pude/pudo, quise/quiso, vine/vino, dije/dijo). But watch the differences: Portuguese trouxe answers to Spanish traje, and poder writes pôde (he could) with a circumflex to separate it from the present pode.
Examples
Note
Do not confuse pôde (he could, past, with circumflex) and pode (he can, present) — the accent is the only written difference. Also memorize that pôr becomes pus/pôs, and the -x- forms trouxe/trouxe (trazer) and quis/quis (querer) with no ending in the eu/ele form.
FAQ
Pretérito perfeito irregular (verbos frequentes) — what does it mean and how is it used?
The past-tense (pretérito perfeito) forms of the most common irregular verbs, which you must memorize. The most common verbs form the simple past irregularly, and these are exactly the ones you use every day, so learn them by heart. Note that ser and ir share the same forms: fui, foi work for both 'I was/went' and 'he was/went' — context tells them apart. A large group are the 'strong preterites' (fiz/fez, quis/quis, pus/pôs, tive/teve, soube/soube, trouxe/trouxe), whose stress falls on the STEM rather than the ending, unlike regular verbs (compare regular falei with strong fiz). If you know Spanish this transfers strongly: Spanish has the parallel pretéritos fuertes (hice/hizo, tuve/tuvo, pude/pudo, quise/quiso, vine/vino, dije/dijo). But watch the differences: Portuguese trouxe answers to Spanish traje, and poder writes pôde (he could) with a circumflex to separate it from the present pode.
Pretérito perfeito irregular (verbos frequentes) — how do you form it?
ser/ir: fui, foi · ter: tive, teve · estar: estive, esteve · fazer: fiz, fez · dizer: disse, disse · trazer: trouxe, trouxe · pôr: pus, pôs · poder: pude, pôde · querer: quis, quis · saber: soube, soube · vir: vim, veio · dar: dei, deu · ver: vi, viu · haver: houve
Pretérito perfeito irregular (verbos frequentes) — any usage notes?
Do not confuse pôde (he could, past, with circumflex) and pode (he can, present) — the accent is the only written difference. Also memorize that pôr becomes pus/pôs, and the -x- forms trouxe/trouxe (trazer) and quis/quis (querer) with no ending in the eu/ele form.