asentir Preterite Conjugation
asentir — to nod
Asentir is a 'sandal verb' with an e to i stem change only in the third-person forms: asintió and asintieron.
asentir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to describe a specific moment in a story when someone nodded their head in response to a statement.
Notes on asentir in the Preterite
In the preterite, the 'e' changes to 'i' only in the third-person singular (él/ella) and plural (ellos/ellas). All other forms use the regular stem.
Example Sentences
Ella asintió cuando le hice la pregunta.
She nodded when I asked her the question.
él/ella/usted
Asentí tímidamente ante el jefe.
I nodded shyly before the boss.
yo
Los testigos asintieron ante el juez.
The witnesses nodded before the judge.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'asentió' for the third person without the i-change.
Correct: asintió
Why: In the preterite, -ir verbs with stem changes always change e to i in the third person.
Mistake: Using 'asintí' for the yo form.
Correct: asentí
Why: The e > i change only occurs in the third person (the 'sandal' of the conjugation table).
Master Spanish verbs in context
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: asiento
Asentir has an e to ie stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros: asiento, asientes, asiente, asentimos, asentís, asienten.
Imperfect
yo: asentía
Asentir is completely regular in the imperfect: asentía, asentías, asentía, asentíamos, asentíais, asentían.
Future
yo: asentiré
Asentir is regular in the future; simply add the endings to the full infinitive: asentiré, asentirás, asentirá...
Conditional
yo: asentiría
Asentir is regular in the conditional: asentiría, asentirías, asentiría, asentiríamos, asentiríais, asentirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: asienta
Asentir has an e to ie change in most forms, but an e to i change in nosotros and vosotros: asienta, asientas, asienta, asintamos, asintáis, asientan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: asintiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'asintie-' stem for all forms: asintiera, asintieras, asintiera, asintiéramos, asintierais, asintieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: asiente
Give commands with asiente (tú), asienta (usted), or asentid (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no asientas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no asientas, no asienta, no asintamos, no asintáis, no asientan.