Several more of the verbs that you have already learned are also irregular in the preterite. In addition to having irregular conjugations, these verbs have a slightly different shade of meaning than their infinitive when they are used in the preterite. Below, you will see these verbs.
Conocer or “to know” means “to meet for the first time” in the preterite.
| conocer – to meet for the first time (pretérito) | ||||||||||||
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For example:
| tiempo presente: | pretérito: |
|---|---|
 Nosotros conocemos muy bien a Paco. |
Nosotros conocimos a Juanita en la fiesta. |
Saber or “to know” means “to realize/find out for the first time” in the preterite.
| saber – to realize/find out for the first time (pretérito) | ||||||||||||
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For example:
| tiempo presente: | pretérito: |
|---|---|
| Yo sé que Miguel es médico. |
Anoche supe que Vicente se casó con Ana. |
Tener or “to have” means “to get” in the preterite.
| tener – to get (pretérito) | ||||||||||||
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For example:
| tiempo presente: | pretérito: |
|---|---|
Victor tiene un coche azul. 
Foto: Adam Jones CC BY-SA 2.0
|
Maribel tuvo un boleto barato. |
Querer or “to wish/want” means “to want (and try)” in the preterite. No querer means “to refuse” in the preterite.
| querer – to want (and try) (pretérito) | ||||||||||||
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For example:
| tiempo presente: | pretérito: |
|---|---|
| Quiero ir a la fiesta. |
Quise ir a España. |
| No quiero ver esa película. |
Foto: elisasizzle CC BY 2.0 |
Poder or “to be able to” means “to be able to (and to do/carry out)” in the preterite. No poder means “to try (but not be able to)” in the preterite.
| poder -to be able to (and to do/carry out) (pretérito) | ||||||||||||
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| tiempo presente: | pretérito: |
|---|---|
| Nosotros podemos bailar muy bien. |
Foto: Art Today |
| Ellos no pueden hablar francés. |
Miguel no pudo terminar la tarea. |
One thing that you might notice about the different shades of meaning between the present and preterite tense for the verbs querer and poder is that in the preterite, there is action implied in the verb. While in the present, querer indicates a desire to do something, in the preterite, you are indicating that you not only wanted to do something, but that you have either tried to carry out the action or have actively refused to do so (no querer). Likewise with poder. In the affirmative, you are indicating that you were not only able to do something, but that you did it, or, (no poder) that you tried, but were unsuccessful.
