atraer Preterite Conjugation
atraer — attract
Atraer uses the 'j' stem in the preterite: atraje, atrajiste, atrajo, atrajimos, atrajisteis, atrajeron.
atraer Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when someone or something successfully attracted attention or physically pulled something in a completed past event.
Notes on atraer in the Preterite
This verb is highly irregular in the preterite. It changes its stem to 'atraj-' and uses special endings without accents. Note that the 'ellos' form is 'atrajeron', not 'atrajieron'.
Example Sentences
El concierto atrajo a miles de personas.
The concert attracted thousands of people.
él/ella/usted
Ayer atraje todas las miradas con mi vestido.
Yesterday I attracted all the looks with my dress.
yo
Tus palabras atrajeron muchos problemas.
Your words attracted many problems.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: atrajeron
Correct: atrajeron
Why: While 'atrajeron' is correct, learners often mistakenly write 'atrajieron' because they are used to the 'ie' ending in other preterite verbs.
Mistake: atrajó
Correct: atrajo
Why: Irregular 'j' stem preterites like this one do not take an accent on the final 'o'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: atraigo
Atraer is irregular in the first person: yo atraigo, followed by regular -er endings for the rest.
Imperfect
yo: atraía
Atraer is regular in the imperfect but requires an accent on the 'i': atraía, atraías, atraía...
Future
yo: atraeré
Atraer is regular in the future: atraeré, atraerás, atraerá...
Conditional
yo: atraería
Atraer is regular in the conditional: atraería, atraerías, atraería...
Present Subjunctive
yo: atraiga
The present subjunctive uses the 'atraig-' stem: atraiga, atraigas, atraiga...
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: atrajera
Based on the 'atraj-' stem: atrajera, atrajeras, atrajera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: atrae
The imperative uses 'atrae' for tú and 'atraiga' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no atraigas
Negative commands always use the 'atraig-' stem: no atraigas, no atraiga...