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atribuir Imperfect Conjugation

atribuir — to attribute

B2irregular spelling change -ir★★★
Quick answer:

The imperfect of atribuir is regular: atribuía, atribuías, atribuía, atribuíamos, atribuíais, atribuían.

atribuir Imperfect Forms

yoatribuía
túatribuías
él/ella/ustedatribuía
nosotrosatribuíamos
vosotrosatribuíais
ellos/ellas/ustedesatribuían

When to Use the Imperfect

Use this to describe what people used to believe or what causes were commonly attributed to events over a long period in the past.

Notes on atribuir in the Imperfect

Atribuir is completely regular in the imperfect. Note the accent mark on the 'í' in all endings.

Example Sentences

  • Antes se atribuía esta enfermedad a los nervios.

    Previously, this illness was attributed to nerves.

    él/ella/usted

  • Nosotros atribuíamos todo a la suerte.

    We used to attribute everything to luck.

    nosotros

Common Mistakes

  • Mistake: atribuia

    Correct: atribuía

    Why: All -ir verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'i' to separate the vowels into two syllables.

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Related Tenses

Present

yo: atribuyo

The present of atribuir adds a 'y' before endings, except for nosotros and vosotros: atribuyo, atribuyes, atribuye, atribuyen.

Preterite

yo: atribuí

In the preterite, atribuir changes 'i' to 'y' in the third-person forms: atribuyó and atribuyeron.

Future

yo: atribuiré

The future of atribuir is regular: atribuiré, atribuirás, atribuirá, atribuiremos, atribuiréis, atribuirán.

Conditional

yo: atribuiría

The conditional of atribuir is regular: atribuiría, atribuirías, atribuiría, atribuiríamos, atribuiríais, atribuirían.

Present Subjunctive

yo: atribuya

The present subjunctive of atribuir inserts a 'y' in all forms: atribuya, atribuyas, atribuya, atribuyamos, atribuyáis, atribuyan.

Imperfect Subjunctive

yo: atribuyera

The imperfect subjunctive of atribuir uses the 'y' from the preterite: atribuyera, atribuyeras, atribuyera, atribuyéramos, atribuyerais, atribuyeran.

Affirmative Imperative

yo: atribuye

Commands for atribuir use 'atribuye' (tú) and 'atribuya' (usted), following the 'y' spelling change.

Negative Imperative

yo: no atribuyas

Negative commands for atribuir always use the 'y': no atribuyas, no atribuya, no atribuyamos, no atribuyáis, no atribuyan.