acertar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
acertar — to get right
The imperfect subjunctive is regular based on the preterite stem: acertara, acertaras, acertara, acertáramos, acertarais, acertaran.
acertar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for hypotheticals or after past-tense triggers, like 'If I got it right...' (Si yo acertara...).
Notes on acertar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
It is built from the third-person plural preterite (acertaron). Since the preterite is regular, this tense is also regular.
Example Sentences
Si yo acertara la lotería, viajaría por el mundo.
If I won (hit) the lottery, I would travel the world.
yo
Me gustaría que tú acertaras por una vez.
I would like it if you got it right for once.
tú
Dudaba que ellos acertaran el acertijo.
I doubted they would get the riddle right.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Adding an 'ie' stem change (aciertara).
Correct: acertara
Why: The imperfect subjunctive follows the preterite stem, which has no 'ie' change for this verb.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: acierto
Acertar is a 'boot verb' where the 'e' changes to 'ie' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: acerté
In the preterite, acertar is completely regular: acerté, acertaste, acertó, acertamos, acertasteis, acertaron.
Imperfect
yo: acertaba
The imperfect of acertar is regular: acertaba, acertabas, acertaba, acertábamos, acertabais, acertaban.
Future
yo: acertaré
The future is regular: just add -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the full infinitive 'acertar'.
Conditional
yo: acertaría
The conditional is regular: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive 'acertar'.
Present Subjunctive
yo: acierte
The present subjunctive follows the 'ie' stem change: acierte, aciertes, acierte, acertemos, acertéis, acierten.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: acierta
The affirmative command uses 'acierta' (tú) and 'acierte' (usted), following the stem change.
Negative Imperative
yo: no aciertes
Negative commands use 'no' plus the present subjunctive forms: no aciertes, no acierte, no acertemos, no acertéis, no acierten.