Spanish Verb Conjugation: Preterite Tense: -CAR Verbs with c -> qu


acercar	to approach	nähern
atacar	to attack	angreifen
buscar	to seek, look for	suchen
clasificar	to classify	klassifizieren
dedicar	to dedicate	widmen
educar	to educate	erziehen
identificar	to identify	identifizieren

To make the preterite forms, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add the endings given above, remembering the spelling rule.

Notice that the NOSOTROS form is exactly the same in the present & preterite tenses.

More information concerning the preterite tense

To see the preterite tense conjugated forms of these verbs, click on a pronoun below:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Yo form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -é to the stem.

Observe the spelling of the hard C sound: CA - QUE - QUI - CO - CU, changing C to QU in this case.

		This is the event.	This is what I did.	deutsch
acercar	acerqué	I approached	I did approach	ich habe genähert
atacar	ataqué	I attacked	I did attack	ich habe angegriffen
buscar	busqué	I sought, looked for	I did seek, look for	ich habe gesucht
clasificar	clasifiqué	I classified	I did classify	ich habe klassifiziert
dedicar	dediqué	I dedicated	I did dedicate	ich habe gewidmet
educar	eduqué	I educated	I did educate	ich habe erzogen
identificar	identifiqué	I identified	I did identify	ich habe identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -é ending says I did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Be very careful in the pronunciation of this form, as the present subjunctive yo, él, ella & Usted forms stress the penultimate syllable and don't have this written accent.

Each verb form in Spanish matches a specific pronoun, so Spanish doesn't need to use the pronoun.

That means: each of the conjugated forms you see says ALL of the given "meaning."

The YO is understood, because of the ending.

You don't need to say YO. If you do add the YO, it usually adds emphasis, saying I did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Tú form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aste to the stem.

Tex-Mex forms of these verbs invert the ending somewhat, so that people generally add the ending -ates.

		This is the event.	This is what you did.	deutsch
acercar	acercaste	you approached	you did approach	du hast genähert
atacar	atacaste	you attacked	you did attack	du hast angegriffen
buscar	buscaste	you sought, looked for	you did seek, look for	du hast gesucht
clasificar	clasificaste	you classified	you did classify	du hast klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicaste	you dedicated	you did dedicate	du hast gewidmet
educar	educaste	you educated	you did educate	du hast erzogen
identificar	identificaste	you identified	you did identify	du hast identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -aste ending says you did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

The pronoun TÚ does not need to be stated in the preterite.

It is already clear by the ending that TÚ is doing the action.

If you did add the TÚ, it usually adds emphasis, saying you did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Él form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -ó to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what he did.	deutsch
acercar	acercó	he approached	he did approach	er hat genähert
atacar	atacó	he attacked	he did attack	er hat angegriffen
buscar	buscó	he sought, looked for	he did seek, look for	er hat gesucht
clasificar	clasificó	he classified	he did classify	er hat klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicó	he dedicated	he did dedicate	er hat gewidmet
educar	educó	he educated	he did educate	er hat erzogen
identificar	identificó	he identified	he did identify	er hat identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -ó ending says he did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Be very careful in the pronunciation of this form, as the present indicative yo form stresses the penultimate syllable and doesn't have this written accent.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ÉL, ELLA, or USTED.

Once you have identified that ÉL is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The ÉL will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the ÉL, it usually adds emphasis, saying he did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Ella form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -ó to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what she did.	deutsch
acercar	acercó	she approached	she did approach	sie hat genähert
atacar	atacó	she attacked	she did attack	sie hat angegriffen
buscar	buscó	she sought, looked for	she did seek, look for	sie hat gesucht
clasificar	clasificó	she classified	she did classify	sie hat klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicó	she dedicated	she did dedicate	sie hat gewidmet
educar	educó	she educated	she did educate	sie hat erzogen
identificar	identificó	she identified	she did identify	sie hat identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -ó ending says she did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Be very careful in the pronunciation of this form, as the present indicative yo form stresses the penultimate syllable and doesn't have this written accent.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ÉL, ELLA, or USTED

Once you have identified that ELLA is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The ELLA will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the ELLA, it usually adds emphasis, saying she did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Usted form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -ó to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what you did.	deutsch
acercar	acercó	you approached	you did approach	Sie haben genähert
atacar	atacó	you attacked	you did attack	Sie haben angegriffen
buscar	buscó	you sought, looked for	you did seek, look for	Sie haben gesucht
clasificar	clasificó	you classified	you did classify	Sie haben klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicó	you dedicated	you did dedicate	Sie haben gewidmet
educar	educó	you educated	you did educate	Sie haben erzogen
identificar	identificó	you identified	you did identify	Sie haben identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -ó ending says you did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Be very careful in the pronunciation of this form, as the present indicative yo form stresses the penultimate syllable and doesn't have this written accent.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ÉL, ELLA, or USTED

Once you have identified that USTED is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The USTED will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the USTED, it usually adds emphasis, saying you did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Nosotros & Nosotras form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -amos to the stem.

Notice that the NOSOTROS form is exactly the same in the present & preterite tenses.

		This is the event.	This is what we did.	deutsch
acercar	acercamos	we approached	we did approach	wir haben genähert
atacar	atacamos	we attacked	we did attack	wir haben angegriffen
buscar	buscamos	we sought, looked for	we did seek, look for	wir haben gesucht
clasificar	clasificamos	we classified	we did classify	wir haben klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicamos	we dedicated	we did dedicate	wir haben gewidmet
educar	educamos	we educated	we did educate	wir haben erzogen
identificar	identificamos	we identified	we did identify	wir haben identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -amos ending says we did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Once you have clarified who WE is, the pronoun NOSOTROS does not need to be stated in the preterite.

It is already clear by the ending that NOSOTROS is doing the action.

If you did add the NOSOTROS, it usually adds emphasis, saying we did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Vosotros & Vosotras form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -asteis to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what y'all did.	deutsch
acercar	acercasteis	y'all approached	y'all did approach	ihr habt genähert
atacar	atacasteis	y'all attacked	y'all did attack	ihr habt angegriffen
buscar	buscasteis	y'all sought, looked for	y'all did seek, look for	ihr habt gesucht
clasificar	clasificasteis	y'all classified	y'all did classify	ihr habt klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicasteis	y'all dedicated	y'all did dedicate	ihr habt gewidmet
educar	educasteis	y'all educated	y'all did educate	ihr habt erzogen
identificar	identificasteis	y'all identified	y'all did identify	ihr habt identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -asteis ending says y'all did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

Once you have clarified who Y'ALL is, the pronoun VOSOTROS does not need to be stated in the preterite.

It is already clear by the ending that VOSOTROS is doing the action.

If you did add the VOSOTROS, it usually adds emphasis, saying Y'ALL did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Ellos form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what they did.	deutsch
acercar	acercaron	they approached	they did approach	sie haben genähert
atacar	atacaron	they attacked	they did attack	sie haben angegriffen
buscar	buscaron	they sought, looked for	they did seek, look for	sie haben gesucht
clasificar	clasificaron	they classified	they did classify	sie haben klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicaron	they dedicated	they did dedicate	sie haben gewidmet
educar	educaron	they educated	they did educate	sie haben erzogen
identificar	identificaron	they identified	they did identify	sie haben identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -aron ending says they did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

This form is important, as it is used to form the past subjunctive forms.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ELLOS, ELLAS, or USTEDES

Once you have identified that ELLOS is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The ELLOS will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the ELLOS, it usually adds emphasis, saying they did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Ellas form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what they did.	deutsch
acercar	acercaron	they approached	they did approach	sie haben genähert
atacar	atacaron	they attacked	they did attack	sie haben angegriffen
buscar	buscaron	they sought, looked for	they did seek, look for	sie haben gesucht
clasificar	clasificaron	they classified	they did classify	sie haben klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicaron	they dedicated	they did dedicate	sie haben gewidmet
educar	educaron	they educated	they did educate	sie haben erzogen
identificar	identificaron	they identified	they did identify	sie haben identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -aron ending says they did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

This form is important, as it is used to form the past subjunctive forms.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ELLOS, ELLAS, or USTEDES

Once you have identified that ELLAS is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The ELLAS will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the ELLAS, it usually adds emphasis, saying they did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense

Preterite Tense: -CAR verb conjugation

Ustedes form

To make this form, drop the -ar from the end of the infinitive and add -aron to the stem.

		This is the event.	This is what you did.	deutsch
acercar	acercaron	you approached	you did approach	Sie haben genähert
atacar	atacaron	you attacked	you did attack	Sie haben angegriffen
buscar	buscaron	you sought, looked for	you did seek, look for	Sie haben gesucht
clasificar	clasificaron	you classified	you did classify	Sie haben klassifiziert
dedicar	dedicaron	you dedicated	you did dedicate	Sie haben gewidmet
educar	educaron	you educated	you did educate	Sie haben erzogen
identificar	identificaron	you identified	you did identify	Sie haben identifiziert

What do they have in common now ?

The stem (verb minus AR) tells you the action.

Using the -aron ending says you did this action, and it is an event that occurred in the past.

This form is important, as it is used to form the past subjunctive forms.

You need to identify who is doing the action in this verb form: ELLOS, ELLAS, or USTEDES

Once you have identified that USTEDES is the subject, you can leave the pronoun out.

The USTEDES will be understood, because of the ending.

If you do add the USTEDES, it usually adds emphasis, saying you did ...

A look at other forms:

YO	TÚ	ÉL	ELLA	USTED
NOSOTROS	VOSOTROS	ELLOS	ELLAS	USTEDES

More information concerning the preterite tense