This exam tips covers Common Irregular Preterite Mistakes within Preterite: key irregulars (ir/ser/hacer/tener/estar/ver/dar) for GCSE Spanish. Revise Preterite: key irregulars (ir/ser/hacer/tener/estar/ver/dar) in Time Frames for GCSE Spanish with 13 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. Use this page as part of a wider topic revision path rather than treating it as an isolated fact. It is section 3 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
⚠️ Common Irregular Preterite Mistakes
These two errors appear regularly in GCSE writing and speaking. Both come from applying regular-verb rules to irregular verbs.
❌ Error 1: Ayer hicó mucho calor.
✅ Correcto: Ayer hizo mucho calor.
Why it costs marks: The preterite él/ella form of hacer is hizo — the c changes to z before the o ending to preserve the /θ/ sound. Hicó does not exist in Spanish and will be marked as an error. Never add the regular -ó ending to an irregular stem.
❌ Error 2: Fué al mercado. (with accent)
✅ Correcto: Fue al mercado.
Why it costs marks: fue is an irregular preterite — it carries no written accent. Students who learn the regular rule (hablé, habló) sometimes apply it to all preterites. Irregulars are exempt because their forms already look different from the present tense, so the accent is both unnecessary and incorrect.