acelerar Preterite Conjugation
acelerar — to speed up
Preterite 'aceleré', 'aceleraste', etc., marks completed past actions like 'I sped up'.
acelerar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite of 'acelerar' to talk about speeding up as a single, completed action in the past. For example, 'I sped up to pass the car' or 'He sped up when he saw the light turn yellow.'
Notes on acelerar in the Preterite
Acelerar is regular in the preterite tense. All the endings are standard for -ar verbs.
Example Sentences
Aceleré para adelantar al camión.
I sped up to overtake the truck.
yo
¿Aceleraste al ver la luz amarilla?
Did you speed up when you saw the yellow light?
tú
Ella aceleró al darse cuenta de la hora.
She sped up upon realizing the time.
él/ella/usted
Los coches aceleraron al empezar la carrera.
The cars sped up at the start of the race.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing preterite with imperfect.
Correct: Use 'aceleré' for a one-time past action, like 'I sped up once'. Use 'aceleraba' for habitual past actions, like 'I used to speed up'.
Why: The preterite focuses on the beginning/end of an action, while the imperfect describes it as ongoing or habitual in the past.
Mistake: Omitting the accent on 'aceleró' (él/ella/usted).
Correct: The form is 'aceleró' with an accent on the 'ó'.
Why: The accent distinguishes this form from the present indicative 'acelera' and marks the stressed syllable.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'acelerar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: acelero
Present tense 'acelero', 'aceleras', etc., describes current or habitual actions.
Imperfect
yo: aceleraba
Imperfect 'aceleraba' describes past ongoing actions or descriptions.
Future
yo: aceleraré
Future tense 'aceleraré', 'acelerarás', etc., predicts or expresses probability.
Conditional
yo: aceleraría
Conditional 'aceleraría', 'acelerarías', etc., means 'would' speed up.
Present Subjunctive
yo: acelere
Present subjunctive like 'acelere' follows wishes, doubts, and emotions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: acelerara
Use imperfect subjunctive like 'acelerara' for past hypotheticals or wishes, often with 'si' (if).
Affirmative Imperative
yo: acelera
Use imperative forms like 'acelera' (tú) for direct commands, e.g., '¡Acelera!'
Negative Imperative
yo: no aceleres
Negative commands use 'no' plus present subjunctive, like 'no aceleres' (tú).