Leer, creer and proveer are irregular in El Pretérito Indefinido, but follow the same pattern: the ending of the third person singular and plural (ella/ él/ usted and ellas/ ellos/ ustedes) replaces the -i- with a -y. The other endings are the same as regular -er verbs: -i, -iste, -imos, -isteis, but these verbs take an accent on the -i.
| yo | -í |
| tú | -íste |
| él / ella / Ud. | -yó |
| nosotros / nosotras | -ímos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -ísteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | -yeron |
Look at and listen to these examples:
Creí que llegarías más pronto.
I thought you'd get there sooner.
¿Leíste el informe que te di?
Did you read the report I gave you?
El creyó a Cristina.
He believed Cristina.
Usted leyó un poema de Neruda muy bonito.
You read a very beautiful Neruda poem.
Nosotros leímos esa novela en clase de literatura.
We read that novel in literature class.
Vosotros creísteis que nunca lo conseguiríais.
You thought you would never make it.
Ellos proveyeron de alimentos a los damnificados.
They provided food to the victims.
Verbs that follow this pattern are:
- leer (to read)
- creer (believe/think)
- proveer (provide)
For regular -er verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido see:
Conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido (simple past)
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
El creyó a Cristina.
He believed Cristina.
Vosotros leísteis la carta.
You read the letter.
No leyeron el artículo del domingo pasado.
They did not read the article from last Sunday.
El juez leyó la sentencia.
The judge read the sentence.
Nosotros leímos esa novela en clase de literatura.
We read that novel in literature class.
Miguel leyó el libro en dos días.
Miguel read the book within two days.
Usted leyó un poema de Neruda muy bonito.
You read a very beautiful Neruda poem.
¿Leíste el informe que te di?
Did you read the report I gave you?
Ellas leyeron en alto.
They read aloud.
Vosotros creísteis que nunca lo conseguiríais.
You thought you would never make it.
Yo leí el periódico ayer.
I read the newspaper yesterday.
Ellos proveyeron de alimentos a los damnificados.
They provided food to the victims.
Creí que llegarías más pronto.
I thought you'd get there sooner.
¿Leíste la redacción de Laura?
Did you read Laura's essay?
Q&A
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
7/02/19
Hola John
Yes, you need here to conjugate proveer in the "vosotros" form as the subject of the sentence is "Juan y tú", i.e you plural, two people. "Juan y tú proveísteis" -> "Vosotros proveísteis".
Saludos
Inma
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
11/10/18
Hola Ricky
Verb to provide, in Spanish sometimes admits preposition "de" as in "proveer de algo". It would also be correct if you omit the preposition though.
It is like saying in English "He provided the poor with food" where you also use a preposition "with", although a different one, or "He provided food to the poor", with no preposition.
Saludos
Inma
Brett
Kwiziq community member
20/11/18
Hi Inma, the presence and abscence of "de" (and function thereof) is also confusing for me. Also, are "de" and "por" sometimes interchangable. eg. "Él estaba rodeado de tiborones" and Él estaba rodeado por tiborones" Are these both correct? If so/not why?
Thanks, Brett
Amy
Kwiziq community member
24/11/18
I was also surprised by the 'de' after proveer but now, it makes sense. It's like the provider of (something).
Maybe this will help the other students too :)
Silvia
Kwiziq language super star
19/10/18
¡Hola Ricky! Could you please make your question clearer in order to help you?
Gracias.
Silvia.
John
Kwiziq community member
20 February 2019
1 reply
Conjugations
Hola,
In the introduction it states ...."all the other endings are the same as regular er verbs íste, ímos, ísteis."
Is this correct? Aren't the ending of regular er verbs iste, imos and isteis all without the accent?
Or am i missing something?
Thanks.
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
20 February 2019
20/02/19
Hola John
You are right. It was a typo. It's been corrected. Endings for regular -er verbs in El Indefinido do not take the accent. Thanks for spotting that and letting us know.
Un saludo
Inma