atacar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
atacar — to attack
The imperfect subjunctive of atacar is regular: atacara, atacaras, atacara, atacáramos, atacarais, atacaran.
atacar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for past-tense doubts or hypothetical 'if' situations (e.g., 'If they attacked, we would lose').
Notes on atacar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
This tense is regular and does NOT need the 'qu' spelling change because the endings start with 'a'.
Example Sentences
Si el oso nos atacara, tendríamos que correr.
If the bear attacked us, we would have to run.
él/ella/usted
No quería que ellos atacaran mi reputación.
I didn't want them to attack my reputation.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Me pidió que yo atacara el problema primero.
He asked me to tackle (attack) the problem first.
yo
Common Mistakes
Mistake: ataquara
Correct: atacara
Why: Since the ending starts with 'a', the 'c' already sounds like a 'k'. No 'qu' is needed here.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: ataco
Atacar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense: ataco, atacas, ataca, atacamos, atacáis, atacan.
Preterite
yo: ataqué
The preterite of atacar features a spelling change in the 'yo' form (ataqué) to keep the hard 'k' sound.
Imperfect
yo: atacaba
The imperfect of atacar is regular: atacaba, atacabas, atacaba, atacábamos, atacabais, atacaban.
Future
yo: atacaré
The future of atacar is regular: just add the endings to the infinitive (atacaré, atacarás, etc.).
Conditional
yo: atacaría
The conditional of atacar is regular: atacaría, atacarías, atacaría, atacaríamos, atacaríais, atacarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: ataque
The present subjunctive of atacar uses 'qu' in all forms: ataque, ataques, ataque, ataquemos, ataquéis, ataquen.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: ataca
The imperative of atacar gives direct orders: ataca (tú), atacad (vosotros), or ataque (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no ataques
Negative commands for atacar always use the 'qu' spelling: no ataques, no ataque, no ataquemos, no ataquéis, no ataquen.