alzar Imperfect Conjugation
alzar — to lift
The imperfect of alzar is regular for -ar verbs: alzaba, alzabas, alzaba, alzábamos, alzabais, alzaban.
alzar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for ongoing past actions or habits, like 'él alzaba pesas' (he used to lift weights) or to describe a scene.
Notes on alzar in the Imperfect
Fully regular. The 'z' remains because the endings start with 'a'.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo alzaba piedras en el río.
As a child, I used to lift stones in the river.
yo
Nosotros alzábamos la bandera cada lunes.
We used to raise the flag every Monday.
nosotros
Ella siempre alzaba las cejas cuando estaba sorprendida.
She always used to raise her eyebrows when she was surprised.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'alzaba' with 'alzada'.
Correct: alzaba
Why: 'Alzada' is the past participle/adjective; 'alzaba' is the conjugated past action.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: alzo
The present tense of alzar is fully regular: alzo, alzas, alza, alzamos, alzáis, alzan.
Preterite
yo: alcé
The preterite of alzar is regular except for the 'yo' form spelling change: alcé, alzaste, alzó, alzamos, alzasteis, alzaron.
Future
yo: alzaré
The future tense of alzar is regular, using the infinitive as the stem: alzaré, alzarás, alzará, alzaremos, alzaréis, alzarán.
Conditional
yo: alzaría
The conditional of alzar is regular: alzaría, alzarías, alzaría, alzaríamos, alzaríais, alzarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: alce
The present subjunctive of alzar features a Z to C spelling change: alce, alces, alce, alcemos, alcéis, alcen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: alzara
The imperfect subjunctive is regular based on the preterite stem: alzara, alzaras, alzara, alzáramos, alzarais, alzaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: alza
The imperative uses 'alza' for tú and 'alce' for usted, including the Z to C change for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no alces
Negative commands for alzar always use the present subjunctive forms: no alces, no alce, no alcemos, no alcéis, no alcen.