atribuir Preterite Conjugation
atribuir — to attribute
In the preterite, atribuir changes 'i' to 'y' in the third-person forms: atribuyó and atribuyeron.
atribuir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when a specific credit or cause was assigned at a particular moment in the past, like a historical discovery or a police report.
Notes on atribuir in the Preterite
The 'i' in the ending changes to 'y' for the él/ella/usted and ellos/ellas/ustedes forms because it falls between two vowels. Also, the 'yo' form (atribuí) and 'tú' form (atribuiste) keep the 'u' and 'i' separate.
Example Sentences
El experto atribuyó la obra a Picasso.
The expert attributed the work to Picasso.
él/ella/usted
Atribuí el error a la falta de tiempo.
I attributed the error to the lack of time.
yo
Ellos atribuyeron la falla al sistema.
They attributed the failure to the system.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: atribuió
Correct: atribuyó
Why: In Spanish, an unstressed 'i' between two vowels must change to a 'y'.
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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.
Imperfect
yo: atribuía
The imperfect of atribuir is regular: atribuía, atribuías, atribuía, atribuíamos, atribuíais, atribuían.
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.