arruinar Preterite Conjugation
arruinar — to ruin
The preterite of arruinar is regular: arruiné, arruinaste, arruinó, arruinamos, arruinasteis, arruinaron.
arruinar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when a specific event or action completely ruined something in the past, like a single mistake that spoiled a party.
Notes on arruinar in the Preterite
Arruinar is regular in the preterite. Remember the accent on the 'é' for 'yo' and the 'ó' for 'él/ella/usted'.
Example Sentences
Ayer arruiné la cena por accidente.
Yesterday I ruined dinner by accident.
yo
Él arruinó su teléfono en la piscina.
He ruined his phone in the pool.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros arruinamos el juego al final.
We ruined the game at the end.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: arruino (for past tense)
Correct: arruinó
Why: Without the accent, 'arruino' is present tense 'I ruin'. 'Arruinó' is past tense 'he/she ruined'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: arruino
Arruinar is regular in the present tense: arruino, arruinas, arruina, arruinamos, arruináis, arruinan.
Imperfect
yo: arruinaba
In the imperfect, arruinar uses the regular -aba endings: arruinaba, arruinabas, arruinaba, arruinábamos, arruinabais, arruinaban.
Future
yo: arruinaré
The future of arruinar is formed by adding -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: arruinaría
The conditional of arruinar is regular: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: arruine
The present subjunctive of arruinar uses -e endings: arruine, arruines, arruine, arruinemos, arruinéis, arruinen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: arruinara
The imperfect subjunctive of arruinar is regular: arruinara, arruinaras, arruinara, arruináramos, arruinarais, arruinaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: arruina
The imperative of arruinar uses arruina (tú), arruinad (vosotros), and subjunctive forms for others.
Negative Imperative
yo: no arruines
The negative imperative of arruinar always uses the present subjunctive forms preceded by 'no'.