Discover several Spanish verbs that have different meanings when used in the present tense vs the past tense. In our last lesson we talked about Irregular Verbs in the Preterit Tense in Spanish and today we will take things one step further from irregular verbs to irregular meanings. We have a number of verbs in Spanish that change meaning when they are used in the Preterit Tense versus the Imperfect Tense (lesson to come!). Let’s check them out…
Grammar deep dive: As we talk about these verbs and their meaning changes, remember that these changes are really about the perspective of the tense being used, not the actual definition of the verb changing.
| Verb | Original Meaning | Preterit Tense Meaning |
| Conocer | To know | To meet |
| Poder / No poder | To be able to / Not to be able to | To manage / To fail |
| Querer / No querer | To want / Not to want | To try / To refuse |
| Saber | To know | To find out (information) |
| Tener | To have | To receive |
Let’s take a look at a few of these verbs in action:
CONOCER
Present: Yo conozco a Daniel. – I know Daniel.
Preterit: Yo conocí a Daniel. – I met Daniel.
QUERER
Present: Nosotros queremos un pastel con fresas. – We want a cake with strawberries.
Preterit: Nosotros quisimos comprar un pastel, pero la tienda estaba cerrada. – We tried to buy a cake, but the store was closed.
SABER
Present: Ella sabe que él es de Argentina. – She knows that he is from Argentina.
Preterit: Ella supo que él era de Argentina. – She found out that he was from Argentina.