atracar Preterite Conjugation
atracar — to rob
Atracar has a spelling change ONLY in the 'yo' form: atraqué, atracaste, atracó, atracamos, atracasteis, atracaron.
atracar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use this for a specific robbery event that happened at a definite time in the past.
Notes on atracar in the Preterite
Only the 'yo' form changes 'c' to 'qu' (atraqué) to keep the hard 'k' sound. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Ayer atraqué el barco en el muelle.
Yesterday I docked the boat at the pier.
yo
Los ladrones atracaron la joyería anoche.
The thieves robbed the jewelry store last night.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
¿Atracaste el banco tú solo?
Did you rob the bank by yourself?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: atracé
Correct: atraqué
Why: In Spanish, 'cé' sounds like 's' or 'th'. To keep the 'k' sound from the infinitive 'atracar', you must use 'qué'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: atraco
Atracar is completely regular in the present indicative: atraco, atracas, atraca, atracamos, atracáis, atracan.
Imperfect
yo: atracaba
Atracar is regular in the imperfect: atracaba, atracabas, atracaba, atracábamos, atracabais, atracaban.
Future
yo: atracaré
Atracar is regular in the future: just add endings to the infinitive (atracaré, atracarás, etc.).
Conditional
yo: atracaría
Atracar is regular in the conditional: atracaría, atracarías, atracaría, atracaríamos, atracaríais, atracarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: atraque
Atacar has a spelling change from 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: atraque, atraques, atraque, atraquemos, atraquéis, atraquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: atracara
The imperfect subjunctive of atracar is regular based on the third-person preterite: atracara, atracaras, atracara, atracáramos, atracarais, atracaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: atraca
Commands use 'atraca' (tú) and 'atraque' (usted/ustedes) with spelling changes in the formal forms.
Negative Imperative
yo: no atraques
Negative commands always use the spelling change: no atraques, no atraque, no atraquemos, no atraquéis, no atraquen.