Some irregular verbs in the simple past
Many verbs ending in -eer, -oír, -uir and -oer change the i to a y in the ending of the third person singular and plural.
Leer → Él leyó
To read → He read
Oír → Ellas oyeron
To hear → They heard
These are the full conjugations of the verbs that follow this pattern in the simple past:
Tú leíste
Él/ella/usted leyó
Nosotros/as leímos
Vosotros/as leísteis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes leyeron
Tú contribuiste
Él/ella/usted contribuyó
Nosotros/as contribuimos
Vosotros/as contribuisteis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes contribuyeron
Tú oíste
Él/ella/usted oyó
Nosotros/as oímos
Vosotros/as oísteis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes oyeron
Other verbs that follow this pattern are creer (to think, to believe), poseer (to possess), roer (to gnaw), distribuir (to distribute), huir (to flee) and excluir (to exclude).
Ella creyó que vendrías.
She thought that you would come.
Los ladrones huyeron.
The thieves fled.
Note: despite not sharing any of the endings cited above, the verb caer (to fall) and its derivatives recaer (to relapse) and decaer (to decline) follow the same pattern in this tense.
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