-IR Verbs with Irregular Preterit Endings

Some verbs like pedir (to ask for) and medir (to measure) reflect a slight spelling change in the third persons singular and plural of the preterit tense. Other verbs like morir (to die), and dormir (to sleep) are also victims of this spelling change. Observe the following:

pedir	to ask for
yo pedí	nosotros pedimos
tú pediste	vosotros pedisteis
él, ella, Ud. pidió	ellos, ellas, Uds. pidieron

repetir	to repeat
yo repetí	nosotros repetimos
tú repetiste	vosotros repetisteis
él, ella, Ud. repitió	ellos, ellas, Uds. repitieron

morir	to die
yo morí	nosotros morimos
tú moriste	vosotros moristeis
él, ella, Ud. murió	ellos, ellas, Uds. murieron

dormir	to sleep
yo dormí	nosotros dormimos
tú dormiste	vosotros dormisteis
él, ella, Ud. durmió	ellos, ellas, Uds. durmieron

Notice that all of these subtle changes in the third person preterit occur in -ir verbs. You will also notice that when you pronounce the correct pronunciation with the pronunciation from the conjugation you thought was correct ("pedió", for example), there is not whole lot of difference phonetically. However, this doesn't excuse you from misspelling it!

Sigue estudiando,

Professor Joel